Open Your Heart
by Child at Heart Forever
Summary: Sonic Adventure Adaption- Sonic is always looking for a new adventure...so with the combination of Eggman's twisted plans, the arrival of a liquid monster named Chaos, a gang of off-the-wall friends and rivals, and an odd light following everyone around...you think that's enough for him? Nah.
1. Absolute Chaos

Open Your Heart

Prologue: Absolute Chaos

_Thunder, rain, and lightning…_

That was the weather on that fateful night. Was it coincidence? Just to set the mood? Or maybe some twisted combination of both? No matter what the cause, the storm had happened, and the Master of the Emerald had to sleep in it. He was used to it- as long as his duty to protect the Master Emerald was still intact, he could survive anything. And speaking of this, this is just what the echidna was pondering in his sleep…

"As far back as I can remember…I've been living here on this dark island, always guarding the Master Emerald from anything that could harm it. I don't know why I was given this job (why it was my fate) destined to be here…forever."

It was a scary, and saddening, thought. Living on a cold, dark island…guarding something…being alone… forever? Knuckles hated it, but he never complained. Not that he anyone to complain to. Someone had to do it. Although- he'd never admit it- that one time…the last time he saw the hedgehog, and his little two-tailed fox side-kick…he almost thought he had made a friend or two. They certainly didn't get off on the right foot, but in the end, they saw eye to eye -as much as they would ever get, at least.

And then they had to leave, and Knuckles had to stay behind on his island.

It had been five years since he'd seen them…he was 16 now, the hedgehog a year younger, and the fox was nearing his ninth. Every few days, he'd wonder how they had been doing…but his mind was always set on the Master Emerald.

In fact, he wasn't even supposed to be sleeping _now_, but animals can only go so long without a decent rest…and that night was the worst night for a snooze.

A shatter woke him up on the spot, a bad vibe rocketing up his spine. He was on his feet in no time, turning to the Master Emerald.

"What the-"

A water-fish like creature was standing right behind him with a blank gaze. It had empty green eyes, and its brain was visible through its water body. Knuckles would've cringed if his emerald wasn't at stake.

"What's going on here?" he demanded to know, though the likeliness of an answer wasn't very. Nevertheless, he glared at the creature until he saw the thousands of sparkles twinkling in the rain behind it. "Oh no…something's happened to the Master Emerald!"

The precious jade emerald had been fractured into at least a dozen pieces, but what worried the echidna slightly more was _how_ it had shattered. Knuckles bared his fangs and roared at the intruder.

"Who are you? Did you do this?" Something told him it did. "Oh, I'll get you for this!"

His fists put on a display of their might, ready to teach the criminal a lesson. Right as Knuckles charged at the figure, it jumped 10 times higher into the air. Its eyes seemed to narrow before it crashed down on Knuckles, sending him tumbling down the stairs. He grunted the entire way down, his head hitting the stairs twice. Despite the throbbing pain, he was back on his feet and charging like a bull.

"Hey! No fair!"

Knuckles returned to the top, his fist held out, ready to strike back. The water creature just melted into a puddle and shrugged Knuckles off like he wasn't even a threat. It disappeared. Knuckles was too jumbled to even talk straight.

"Wait! What happened to you? Come back here!"

Aw, who was he kidding? It was gone; it certainly wasn't coming back.

"Whoa…that was incredible! I've never seen anything like it!"

He didn't even have a chance to think something out or about the phenomenon that happened before him when the entire floating island started to quake. It then occurred to Knuckles…that it was definitely not a good sign. At all.

"It's starting to happen! Without the Master Emerald's power…this whole island will fall into the ocean!"

His mind was so busy rushing he didn't notice the red-orange sparkle flittering above the remains of the Master Emerald. It hovered away, flying into Mystic Ruins…

The Sky Island rumbled and shook, detaching itself from midair. The magic keeping it airborne finally failed, causing it to fall out of the sky with a mighty roar of wind. The impact into the water caused several hundred foot waves to rise and wash out any land surrounding the area. The nearest area, however, was Mystic Ruins…

. . .

Deep in said lush forest, a big purple cat was taking a light snooze on a dock with his best friend, Froggy, waking up after sensing the large crash not too far from where they were.

_Danger, water rising…_

The water in the nearby fishing stream had been pretty shallow- but now it was deeper. Froggy noticed that, but didn't find anything strange out of it. What he found strange was an oddly shaped pile of blue goo. The goo seeped into the water and lurked for the innocent frog. The poor amphibian was so paralyzed with fear, he just put on a terrified face and let the goo take him over.

Moments later, Big the Cat started to stretch and yawn, signaling he was starting to wake up. He rubbed his eyes and glanced around.

"Huh? Er- wha? Froggy? Is that you?"

The frog before him was Froggy, and a frog…but it had a tail.

"You're lookin' kinda weird, good buddy."

Froggy just turned around, fear plastered on his face at the fact he wasn't really sure of what had happened to him. His feet slipped ever so slightly when he tried to hop out of the deeper water, but he hopped away nevertheless. Big was struck confused.

"What's up with the tail?"

Froggy ignored his friend and leapt behind him, the force that created his tail pushing him toward an interesting shiny rock. Against his will, Froggy swallowed a Chaos Emerald. Big turned around and yelped.

"Hey, wait a minute! You swallowed my lucky charm!"

Froggy hopped off, a much slower Big trotting after him. However, Big gave up and just looked on.

"What's wrong with you? Something's not right…we've always been friends…for years!"

Now Froggy was turning against Big, against his will. Froggy knew, and understood, he was Big's one and only friend. It wasn't that Big was a mean guy; it was just that there were people "better" than Big to be friends with. The day Big had found Froggy…Big had cried out in happiness and swore they were friends forever. Big's eyes were so innocent…all he wanted was a friend. So Froggy stuck around and never left.

Big's eyes tightened at the memory, and at the fear of betrayal from his friend. His yellow eyes flashed open; adrenaline kicked in.

"Froggy! Wait up! Oh dear…"

Big the Cat had a mission now- get his friend back.

**Later that Night-**

It started as a simple night in Station Square. People were strolling casually, heading home from work. The night was calm and cool, so everyone decided walking home would be for the best. Stars, a cloud, and a helicopter peacefully hovered in the sky above…wait…

The helicopter's spotlight was following something unidentifiable, and the helicopter itself was being followed by the red-orange sparkle. Lucky for city, Sonic the Hedgehog decided to take a quick jaunt around town, and was slightly pleased to hear that something interesting was stirring up. He jumped from building to building, finally stopping when he had a good vantage point of the situation.

"Oh yeah! This is happenin'!"

_Clamor, sirens wailing…_

"Huh?"

Four police cars tore chaotically down the street below the building Sonic was standing on. The cars drove sporadically in small spurts. It was so bad, they were just about hitting each other. Sonic just watched, curious as to why they were all jacked up-or hesitant, maybe?- in the first place.

"Maybe I'd better get a closer look…" Sonic thought, jumping down and ready to follow the police cars. The sirens kept on blaring, the cars continued to take off, and Sonic was still confused, and if possible for his positive no-worry attitude, concerned.

"What's up?"

He curled up into a ball and propelled himself after the law enforcement.

The cars all stopped at a dead end, which happened to be a large building. As if on cue, the very same thing that ambushed Knuckles suddenly jumped out of the sky, ready to cause more chaos in the city. The police ran out, guns steady in their hands.

"You are completely surrounded! Surrender yourself!" the leader shouted. All men crouched down and took precise aim. The plasma-being took another leap, landing in perfect firing range.

"Lock on target, men! Ready! Fire!"

The sound of bullets pierced the night, while the bullets themselves pierced into the criminal. Yet, it was made of some type of liquid, therefore rendering the bullets useless. They fell like dropped pennies onto the walkway. The police were dumbstruck.

"Oh no! Our weapons are useless! Retreat! All personnel, fall back!"

The leader fired two more useless shots before taking off after the others. Sonic, however, was eager to do their job for them. He landed on the leader's car before it drove off.

"Oh yeah! This could be fun!"

It had been awhile, after all…Sonic hadn't done any true fighting in a few months, and fighting evil was his second main hobby. He cracked his knuckles and smirked at the water-logged creature.

"Ready to be washed out?" he snickered, jumped off the car and flying into battle. Chaos 0, which was the perfect name for the absolute chaos he was causing, narrowed his eyes. It was the very same way he had done when Knuckles dared to challenge him. Sonic started off by jogging around Chaos, just out of curiosity. He could find a weak point, learn some of his attacks, anything. It had its advantages. He did find a weak point- its brain. Sonic smirked and threw himself into him, causing the monster to melt into a puddle.

"That's a new one."

Chaos slithered away from Sonic, taking shape once more a couple steps away. His brain lit up, allowing its fist to enlarge in a purple aura. Chaos swung at Sonic, Sonic bending over backwards to avoid being hit. He melted into a puddle, giving Sonic the chance to gather up some rings.

"Okay, let's do this for real!"

Chaos became solid-ish once more, this time taking off into the sky. He landed on a pole and launched a purple fist at Sonic. Sonic yawned and simply stepped out of the way.

"Is that _honestly_ the best you got?"

Chaos growled, jumped to another pole and attacked again. Sonic tried to see where he was, but was blinded by the helicopter light. The sparkle floated up to Sonic's ear, and a light, calm, female voice called out.

_"Dodge to the left!"_

Sonic obeyed, not sure if he was hearing things or if it was his conscience or something, but he just barely avoided a strike to the face. Chaos' fist lightly brushed against Sonic's rightmost quill. The hedgehog grabbed the fist and threw it to the ground, bringing Chaos down with it. Sonic homed in on his weak point and attacked again. Chaos grabbed his head and melted into his puddle form once more.

"Sorry! Didn't mean to give you a headache!"

The liquid goo bubbled in response, gliding away. Sonic chased after it.

"Come on, you big drip! Where you goin'?"

Technically, that's what it was, after all.

Chaos slipped through the crack of a sewer drain, disappearing under the city. Sonic walked up it, staring down, and thinking.

"Oh well-I'll play with you some other time!"

Up above, on a building to Sonic's left, stood a man with a red coat and a large orange mustache.

"You know nothing fool…" he muttered."It's Chaos, the God of destruction!"

Doctor Robotnik cackled insanely after that, the bellowing laugh echoing into the darkness of the night...

_It's such a bad sign…_

**Sonic Adventure is my favorite game that I've never played! ^.^**

**This is my first fic of 2010! Whoo! And am I really doing Sonic Adventure? Apparently so. It's a combination of the real game-for those picky people- and originality -for those people looking for something different. It's mainly Sonic, Tails and Knuckles until the epic Chapter 6, but everyone is included at one point. Bla bla bla...just please tell me what you think so far! **


	2. Unexpected Reunions

Open Your Heart

Chapter 1: Unexpected Reunions

Station Square at early dawn. It was strange being there- it was odd being in a city when you were used to plant life, an altar, and a big shiny rock sitting behind you. Knuckles could always see the city from where he sat on Angel Island, but being up close and personal with it made a big difference. He looked about the city, slightly exhausted by his flight there, but knew what he had to do.

"It's up to me to find the missing pieces of the Master Emerald. It won't be easy- pieces flew off everywhere! Guess I better start looking anywhere I can…"

Station Square counted as anywhere. If he was anyone else, he'd be frightened to be in such a large, unfamiliar place; different from where you've been as far back as you could remember. But Knuckles didn't fear _anyone_, and he certainly wasn't about to start doing so now.

"Now, where to begin?"

_"Knuckles, you should be able to get into city hall!"_ said the same voice that spoke to Sonic the previous night.

Knuckles froze. Who said that? He whirled around, dreads whipping his back, but no one was there.

"I wish I knew who that was…"

Knuckles sighed, jumped into the air, and flew down the street and around the corner. The red-orange sparkle gave a small giggle and quickly chased after him. The echidna scouted the street, pedestrians looking on like he was an invading alien. After all, being the last of the echidnas usually meant no one knew what they were, let alone what they looked like. Beyond that, he was_ flying_! You certainly didn't see that every day! A business man stopped in his tracks to gape at Knuckles. Knuckles landed back on the ground and stared into his eyes.

"What're you looking at?"

The man muttered something under his breath before stumbling away. He had just moved there yesterday and was already being harassed by an animal! He moaned and jittered down the sidewalk, Knuckles cocking his head and raising an eyebrow. Everyone else just gave Knuckles a brief thought then carried on with their lives. They saw a blue hedgehog everyday- this shouldn't have been very surprising.

"Okay, City Hall…" Knuckles tensed up. What was a City Hall? What did it look like? Most importantly, where was it? Boy, was he glad he could speak. He needed directions…

"No! I can do this on my own!"

He marched down the street, angry he had even suggested the thought. He'd bash down a couple walls, maybe read a sign or something, and find the place. Easy, right?

_"Knuckles…head toward the yellow block-off!"_

"Where is that voice coming from? Better not question it though- it's helping me out, after all."

He spotted black and yellow stripes, blocking an entrance. Using the clues the mystery voice gave him, Knuckles bolted forward, one mighty spiked fist blasting the barrier into a large red door. Knuckles got out of his fighting stance and pondered.

"Hm. Must be the place…"

He jogged into the structure, determined to locate his emeralds.

_"There's three in here…"_

Three. He was going to trust this voice- and he hardly trusted anyone in person! Well, that's not true. He could be easily talked into several things. When it came to the Master Emerald, however, there was no room for misjudgment-again. A large gold bell swung overhead, Knuckles discounting its deep ring completely. Apparently City Hall leads to more city…

"Better not waste any time."

He took off into the air once more, eyes locked onto a possible Master Emerald sighting.

_"Watch out for the cars."_

Well, no duh. Knuckles had enough knowledge to figure that one out. Nevertheless, he stuck to scaling walls. His knuckle spurs came in hand for many situations. He searched in every nook and cranny until some hidden echidna sense started going crazy! Knuckles climbed around the building he was on like a spider, spying the piece behind a window.

"Entrance, entrance…"

He could've simply broken the window-like anyone else- but with the cops still patrolling the streets like mad, he wasn't going to take the chance. A small hole was located off to the right. Knuckles grinned.

"Perfect. Hmph!"

He swung himself around, circling perfectly into the hole. Knuckles tumbled inside, landing on one knee and resting with one hand. He spotted the Master Emerald piece and wasted no time in getting it back into his possession.

"One down, two to go!" he exclaimed.

_"The reason you could sense the piece so easily…you've become so acquainted with the Master Emerald, you can sense when it's nearby and when it's not! That's why you woke up when it first shattered- not because of the sound, but the fact the emerald was in danger!"_

Knuckles gave a nod- the mystical voice was making sense. It made even more sense when he flew to the roof of the building across the street- the "sense" was going off again.

"Incredible…how does that voice know so much?" he questioned aloud.

_"I'm like you in more ways than you know…"_

"Really? How?"

_"Now's not the time to reveal that. You'll know before long, I promise…"_

Knuckles didn't pry anymore. Perhaps it was just some subconscious voice speaking to him. Some realistic projection of his thoughts, most likely. Wait, the emerald piece…he was getting closer! He let his connection with the emerald guide him; it took him to two small water towers. He was so close, it almost hurt! He madly swung his fists at the water towers, bashing one and freeing the Emerald Piece out of the other. He picked it up and stared into his reflection.

"Maybe there are things about the Master Emerald even I haven't discovered…"

The sparkle spirit floated away from Knuckles, in a saddened matter.

"…"

She, as its voice was female, then recalled where the final emerald piece could be found.

_"Emeralds can even be found inside enemy characters!"_

"They think they can use my emerald…they're wrong!"

A faint tug sent Knuckles flying in the direction it was coming from- ironically, there were no enemies, but Knuckles was sure he would remember the tip for later. The final piece rested on a pathway that wrapped around a brick building. Knuckles collected the piece and actually smiled.

"I found them! Maybe I was wrong- that was actually pretty simple!"

The sparkle just levitated behind Knuckles.

_"Stay positive, my friend…negativity won't get you anywhere, and I don't want you ending up like him…"_

_. . ._

The day dragged on, but it was far from boring. The sky was a pure blue, clouds floated without a care, and a two-tailed fox in a plane saw his chance to seize both the day and the sky. He was blissfully unaware of the commotion that happened to Sonic and Knuckles last night, as he had been working on a new incredible project and wasn't paying much attention to the outside world.

"Everything's working great! All systems go, full speed ahead!"

Miles Prower, better known as "Tails", cheered as his newest plane soared in the sky successfully. It was bulky and silver, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was that the propeller stopped working. And if it propeller stopped working, it was because the engine had stopped working. No matter _what_ had stopped working, Tails was still going to panic.

"Uh oh…what's this?" the plane gave out and tumbled out of the sky. "Nooooo! Aaaaaaahh! I'm outta control! Mayday! Mayday! Going down…"

The plane took a nosedive toward the ground of Station Square, but at the last moment ricocheted back into the air.

"Look out below!"

Meanwhile, Sonic was taking a snooze on a lounge chair, not worrying about whatever happened with Chaos. It was a beautiful day, and he was going to enjoy it- with a nap. However, the unusually loud sound of a plane snapped him out of his slumber. The reason it was so loud…it was awfully close to the ground. Sonic sprang out of the chair and landed on his feet.

"What? Tails?"

Tails' mouth was dangling agape, still desperately trying to regain control of the bi-plane.

"Watch out! You're gonna crash!"

The sound of the plane making contact with the ground was enough to make Sonic's quills stand on end.

"Tails…what am I gonna do with you?"

Sonic shrugged, and followed the trail of smoke to locate Tails. The part of the city he happened to be in was around the beach, known as Emerald Coast, so the beginning of his run started out on sand. Many beach-goers saw Sonic sprinting down the boardwalk and cheered him on- whether he was saving Tails or just going for a leisurely run. Sonic waved back to all of them after bouncing from spring to spring.

"I hope Tails is okay…" Sonic told himself while running a loop. "That sure sounded like a nasty crash!"

Unlike Knuckles, the last time Sonic seen Tails had been 3 weeks ago. Being best friends, and as close as brothers, Sonic made sure to check up on Tails as often as possible, while still giving each other their space. Tails was slightly insecure and almost always relied on someone for help, but Sonic understood that was because he had a rough childhood-er, well, young childhood. The kid was eight and a half now, and though he had matured greatly, thoughts of the past still rang true.

"Might as well travel in style!" he called into the wind. Sonic ran over a Boost Pad that propelled him into the air, giving him the opportunity to do several tricks in mid-air. No one was really around, so he technically wasn't showing off. He curled up and spin dashed into an opening on the side of a hill, beginning to run on the road before him. It winded its way around, Sonic not minding at all- after all, running was his life. Not to mention the scenery was beautiful. Palm trees lined the path, the land itself was a work of art, and a blue blur streaking through it all was a nice touch.

The bridge Sonic was running on, one that reached over the water, started to violently bounce up and down. It was so bad, it caused Sonic to stumble, but not fall.

"What the heck?"

He returned to a more stable boardwalk, only for an orca and/or killer whale (Sonic wasn't very bright on "whale species") to destroy the very path Sonic ran on. The care-free hedgehog just grinned. He found it interesting. You didn't get chased by a whale very often, all in all.

"Go for it, whale. I'll still outrun you!"

He gained speed, feet moving furiously. The whale let out a moan, jumped out of the water and diving head first into the bridge. Up ahead was a Launch Pad- Sonic would make it. The whale thrashed about behind him, catching up quite easily. He could hear boards snap and crack while the bridge itself start to cave. With a push of determination, Sonic bolted forward and took off into the air, thanks to the pad. The whale gave up after that, leaving Sonic to run up the Tower Hill. The fastest thing alive tore through the land, determined to find his friend. He skidded around, up, and even on a wall, still searching for Tails.

"Come on, buddy…"

. . .

_"The sun…ow, when did it get so bright?"_

He blinked his eyes, the sunlight now being blocked by a blue figure holding his hand out. Tails, still a bit out of it, looked up to see Sonic holding his hand out for _him_ with the ends of his mouth turned up.

"…you okay buddy?"

Tails blinked, not taking his best friend's hand but springing up and wrapping him in a hug. Sonic chuckled and walked him back to civilization. Sonic himself didn't know _how_ he found him, but he did, and Tails couldn't have been happier.

. . .

"Long time no see, huh?" Tails asked when they were back at Sonic's lounging spot.

"I'm just glad you're okay…boy, you're lucky I saw you come down!" stated Sonic honestly. "What happened anyway? You're too good of a pilot to just crash like that!"

Tails grinned cheekily at the compliment as he stepped closer to Sonic to explain. "That was a test run using a new prototype propulsion system. It's got a few bugs to iron out…it's not fully compatible yet."

"Why not just use my plane, the Tornado?" Sonic questioned. "You can always borrow that!"

"Thanks, but you gotta check out my newest power supply! If I can make this work, it'll run circles around yours!"

Though his pride was in his speed, Sonic valued his very own plane very much. After all, who had a plane to call theirs? It wasn't very fancy, but it was still good enough to take for a flight every now and then. He valued it even more, since Tails had once saved him several years ago with it. It slightly, _very_ slightly, upset him that Tails didn't want to use it.

"Ta da!" Tails suddenly cried, snapping Sonic out of his brief trance. He brought out the one thing he managed to salvage from his plane crash- a very bright purple crystal. Sonic's jaw dropped.

"Woah! A Chaos Emerald?"

"Yup. I just happened to find one of the seven emeralds during one of my test flights. This thing's got unlimited power ya know! So I figured, "Why not use it to power up my plane?" Super charged!" Tails was extremely proud of what he discovered and developed, the equivalent feeling of a kid the same age buying a five-scoop ice cream cone and being able to eat it with no problems. Sonic didn't say a word to bring him down, though he probably couldn't if he tried anyway. "You gotta come over to my workshop, Sonic! I've got something I've gotta show you! It's in the Mystic Ruins. The fastest way is by train. Let's go!"

Tails completely forgot his latest crash in excitement from the thought of Sonic being impressed by him- Sonic impressed Tails every day. He wanted to be like him so much…Tails just wasn't sure if he could ever pull it off. But doing something that gets Sonic to be amazed was the next best thing, he supposed. Therefore he rushed off to his workshop.

_"Heh heh…"fastest way is by train" eh? Well, the truth is, fastest way is by ME!"_

Tails was already on his way to the train station, however. Sonic just sighed happily and decided to tag along with his little bro instead. It had been awhile, and he was in such a great mood…it would be worth it.

. . .

The station in Mystic Ruins was a bit older than the one in Station Square, being purely made out of wood and all, but it was still a station nonetheless. Tails jumped zealously out with Sonic trudging behind.

"That was way too long of a ride…" he muttered.

"Aw come on Sonic! So you had to sit still for half an hour- lighten up!" Tails exclaimed. "Let's hurry- my workshop is just this way!"

"If you don't mind Tails…I'll just run a bit ahead. I've really gotta stretch my legs out!"

Tails gave a nod; Sonic saluted and took off on the spot. Tails was left standing then, until he remembered something. He built himself a small invention for this kind of occasion. It went around his ankle- he called it his Jet Anklet- and it boosted his flying speed.

"Hey…I can fly a lot faster now! I can catch up with Sonic! He'll never see it coming!"

Tails started off with a light jog, then a sprint, then jumping up and letting his tails take over. They whirled around like a living helicopter, which always amused Tails.

"Time to catch up to Sonic!"

He jetted forward, blurring into the wind, but not going so fast to be a part of it. It was his version of Sonic's "running rush"- he loved being in the air, even though it tired him out at the end of the day. Tails had always been meaning to ask if Sonic ever got tired, but then he decided he was _Sonic_, and that he probably built up enough strength to resist so much pain. He had seen him get severely hurt before, and yet he was still here, breathing, standing and smiling.

"Yeah! This is speed, baby!"

Sonic weaved throughout the grassy land, letting the uneven ground lead him. Tails had said his workshop was just ahead, so he'd find it in no time! He was just about to break into a Sonic Boom when a cry rang out.

"Hey Sonic! Wait up for me!"

Sonic glanced over his shoulder to see Tails giggling and flying, catching up to Sonic until he was flying a few steps behind him. Sonic gave an impressed nod.

"Glad to see your flying has improved!"

"Yeah, I can keep up with you a lot longer!"

Sonic smirked. "Oh really…"

Tails knew where this was going. "Sure can!"

"Then try this one on for size!"

He bolted, dust flying up and leaving Tails in a daze. He knew it was coming though, and managed to stay on a steady course. The hedgehog chuckled, bounding off springs and leaping onto higher ledges. He landed every time with light thuds, but never lost his momentum. Tails smiled and took off for higher heights. Sonic looked up several times, but never spotted Tails.

"Hm, looks like he couldn't keep up after all!"

"Guess again, Sonic!"

"Huh?"

A flash of orange flew past a group of trees, eventually flying out a twirling around Sonic. Tails winked and floated alongside his friend.

"I told ya!"

Sonic blinked, then smiled. "Doesn't surprise me at all!"

Tails laughed, enjoying the run/flight on the way to his house. He couldn't wait to tell Sonic of the little adventures of his own, even though Sonic's tales were usually more interesting, always filled with excitement, action, speed, and got his adrenaline going. It felt like he was actually there, running with Sonic through a desert or escaping a blimp or floating on a cloud or-

"Tails, brake it!"

"Whoa!"

The stop was so sudden, and he was going so fast, Tails tumbled forward in the air, though Sonic jumped up and caught him. He could feel his eyes rolling, and was about to thank Sonic when he saw the fierce gaze upon his face. There was only one person he gave that look to…

"Well, well, well…if it isn't Sonic! …and Tails…" a deep voiced, evil man seethed, riding in a round machine.

"Look! It's a giant talking egg!" Sonic sneered right back.

"It's an Eggman!" cried Tails, adding to the insult.

Eggman pounded his fists on the dashboard. "Silence! I am Doctor Robotnik…the greatest, most cunning, scientific genius in the world!"

"Yeah right! Whatever you say Dr. **Eggman**…"

"Enough! I've got big plans! I've been working on a master plan though, but now it's time to put it to work!"

Tails sighed. "That usually means trouble, coming from you! You're always up to no good…"

"I want all of the Chaos Emeralds, so don't even try to interfere this time! Give me that Chaos Emerald, or else!"

"Or else what, ya big loser?" shouted Sonic.

"Or else I'll take it from you by force! The hard way!"

He disappeared over the edge, returning with an extension to the carrier he was already in.

"Get ready to feel the sting of the Egg Hornet!"

Sonic turned to Tails with a wink. "Ready to break an egg?"

Tails giggled. "I've got your back, Sonic!"

"Let's do it!"


	3. Race for the Emeralds

Open Your Heart

Chapter 2: Race For the Emeralds

Eggman flew around the fighting area while Sonic and Tails collected the rings scattered about. The evil genius began to launch miniature missiles at the duo. They avoided them almost too easily.

"What's wrong Eggman? The moment you come back to fight me you can't fight back with full force?" Sonic mocked, simply sidestepping a projectile.

Eggman ignored Sonic. "All systems! Full power!

His machine lit up in pink and began to dig into the ground. Sonic and Tails exchanged looks, but the stunt gave them full access to hurting the mechanism. They bashed into it, causing Eggman to back out of the dirt. He sent out more missiles; Tails dodging all of them but Sonic was trying to show off and ended up getting a small injury on his elbow. Eggman cackled insanely as he prepared to use the previous move again- only this time plowed into Sonic.

"Aw geez…he gave me a scar!" Sonic growled. Tails saw Eggman coming and gasped.

"Get out of the way Sonic!"

"Hup!"

Sonic did a flip, avoiding a drill to the head as Tails flew up and did another strike to the Hornet.

"You won't get away with that!" Eggman bellowed, vowing to go after Tails next.

"Hit _me_ with your best shot! You try to hit Tails though, I'll fight back with no mercy!" Sonic yelled, jumping in front of Tails while grabbing his injury.

"Sonic-"

"ha! You? Show me mercy? I'd like to see you once show me mercy!"

"Are you kidding? You're still here, aren't you? I could've done away with you years ago, pal! But since I'm such a good guy I didn't!"

Eggman furiously twitched his mustache. "Grgh, take this, you blue pest!"

Another barrage of missiles came crashing down, but this time they were locked onto Tails and Sonic. Sonic grabbed Tails' hand and pulled him out of the way. Tails could feel the heat of the explosions just missing the soles of his shoes.

"Still can't hit us, Doctor!"

Eggman fired more, starting to become extremely irritated. Tails took over, bringing Sonic above the commotion of the projectiles blowing up upon contact with the ground. Where they once stood, a missile a bit larger than the rest crashed down, detonating in a massive red smoke. Sonic whistled.

"Good call, Tails!"

Tails would've shrugged it off if Sonic wasn't dangling from his arms.

"Thanks!" he turned to inspect the Egg Hornet. "If my calculation is correct, then that machine needs only one more blow!"

"Let's get this thing over with!"

Tails nodded and started to descend from the air, the same time Eggman started to drill into the ground again. He swung Sonic back and forth, finally releasing him with enough power to finish off the Hornet. Sonic tisked as he curled up into a ball.

"Honestly Eggman- what kind of a hornet drills into the ground?"

Said Hornet was no more. It blew up from all the damage Sonic and Tails had dealt with their incredible strength...or maybe it just wasn't built well. Sonic struck a pose on the ground while Tails floated down next to him and cheered.

"Yeah!"

Eggman's original piece, the one he showed up in, shook uncontrollably and crashed down on its side.

"Well, that wasn't so hard!" Sonic scoffed, even going so far as to wave to the infuriated doctor. Tails came up carrying the Chaos Emerald.

"That was just too easy!"

Eggman didn't despair- he snickered.

"gotcha!"

A claw extended out of his machine, flying out and snatching the emerald straight out of Tails' hands. Tails' eyes couldn't have been wider.

"Hey! He snagged it!"

Instead of putting it away for safe keeping, he held it out, as if waiting for something. "Come on Chaos! Time to eat! You could use a little snack!"

"Who's Chaos?" Tails asked confused. Sonic narrowed his eyes.

"I think I might have a slight idea…"

The blue puddle of goo suddenly arrived to make its comeback. It returned to its mutated Chao shape and gave a glare to Sonic.

"Oh no! That's the same monster I saw yesterday!" exclaimed Sonic. "I thought he had just dripped down the drain!"

"Uh, _monster_?"

Before Sonic could fill Tails in, Eggman tossed the Emerald to Chaos, causing the creature to absorb it and become a lot stronger, and gain a mutated arm. Eggman literally jumped out of his seat and cheered.

"Yes, yes, yes! It's really happening! It's just as the stone tablets predicted!" He then turned smugly to Sonic. "Ha ha ha! Hear this, Sonic! His strength increases every time I feed him a Chaos Emerald. All he needs is seven Chaos Emeralds to become invincible- and work for me! Then, he will turn Station Square into rubble. And, on its ruins, I'll build Robotnik Land, the ultimate city, where I will rule all!"

"What kind of a villain just spews out his entire plan like that?" lamented Tails.

Sonic smirked. "All villains do that- they do it so they literally hand us the chance of stopping them!"

Eggman waved for his sidekick. "Come along, Chaos. Let's find another Emerald, shall we?"

He threw something onto the ground, and the two disappeared in a bright light green flash, leaving Sonic and Tails blinking away the light.

"Sonic…we can't let them get away with this, can we?" Tails asked seriously.

"No way, Tails! We can't let that monster get any bigger. It could get ugly!"

"Without more Emeralds, it can't transform…so, it's up to us to get the Emeralds before Eggman does, huh? So what do ya say, Sonic?"

Sonic pounded a fist into his opposite palm. "Oh, we're gonna get those Chaos Emeralds all right! There's gotta be one around here in the Windy Valley, right?"

Tails nodded as they started to run off. "Yeah- that's most likely why Dr. Robotnik was here in the first place! He must've been following the trail of the Chaos Emerald in this area, but when he encountered us, he thought he was tracking our Emerald the entire time!"

"…Which means the one he might've been originally looking for is still around!" Sonic put together. "Tails, you're a genius!"

Tails shrugged. "I do my best!" then he started to babble. "Have ever been to Windy Valley? Oh, you'll love it Sonic- after all, you like running with the wind! You know how you've always want to fly? The winds are so strong you can! It's really amazing, though I haven't quite figured out how the wind manages to get that strong-"

Sonic gave a small smile as his little bro continued to rant on and on about the greatness of Windy Valley. Vague fragments of his speech reached Sonic's mind when they happened to occur as they ran on by. It was true the wind was plenty stronger than anywhere else, but it wasn't so hard it made anyone do anything but blow over. In fact, Sonic almost enjoyed being surrounded by the stronger rush of air here than way back in Green Hill Zone.

"Hey Tails?" Sonic said airily after bounding from spring to spring once more.

"Yeah?"

"Wanna race?"

Tails twitched. "I dunno Sonic…with your speed, you'll beat me for sure!"

Sonic scoffed. "No I won't- I'm restricted to land obstacles and wind whipping my face- you, Tails, can fly right over everything and spot the Emerald before I do!"

"Uh, okay-"

"Still doesn't change the fact I'm faster!"

Sonic let out a bold laugh before jetting off, leaving Tails to look on unsurely.

"How am I supposed to beat Sonic?"

_"You should be able to find a shortcut if you fly!"_

Tails' eyes widened. "What was that?"

He furiously spun around, trying to locate the voice, but had no luck and ended up falling on his bottom. He dusted himself off and saw Sonic rushing up another Windmill Path.

"Hmm…"

He grinned, twirled his tails in a helicopter fashion, and flew up over the path to take a shortcut.

Sonic kept blasting forward, enjoying the running sensation. He hadn't raced like this in…well, it was a long time for him. The places in his world were incredibly twisty, windy, uppity and downy that they were equivalent to a rollercoaster! It was one of the secret reasons he liked to roam around so often- to find new "rollercoasters" to run on. The path Sonic was currently running on came to an end via spring, and he was greatly surprised to see Tails fly out of nowhere and start to fly ahead of him.

"Hi Sonic!" Tails called, spinning in a circle to wave then turned back again. He flew higher into the air, really pushing his tails to the limit to stay ahead. Sonic grinned.

"Hey- no shortcuts!"

"Hey- no sonic speeds!"

"Touché."

It was a short path vs. super speed- what one seemed more logical? Tails couldn't figure it out. He spotted a long trail of green and black loops in the air and floated through them. They helped him gain speed, and helped him keep his lead against Sonic! Sonic leapt over a rock and ducked under a tree branch, never taking his eyes off of Tails.

Some days he really wished he could fly.

"While he flies in the air, I can experience the pleasure of zooming around on the ground!"

Sonic kicked his speed into high gear, eventually running so fast he zoomed right under Tails. He winked over his shoulder.

"Told ya!"

Sonic continued to bolt off while Tails put on a look of fierce determination. As Sonic followed the direct turning path of the windmill, Tails flew through another set of green-black loops. Sonic's eyes just about popped out of his head when he reached the point where Tails was at.

"Advantage of the sky, Sonic!"

He spun around like a free petal in an updraft of wind, causing him to bump into a spring that catapulted him to the next one. Sonic made a face.

"You must be kidding."

He jumped to where Tails once was, surprised the wind had carried him up too, and bounced from spring to spring after Tails. By the time he should have caught up with Tails, the two-tailed fox was already blasting through yet another set of rings.

"That strange voice was right after all!" he giggled, doing corkscrews through the loops. Sonic gritted his teeth and pushed on forward. Eventually both racers reached a part of the valley that required going down the side of a wall. Tails' weak point was flying downwards, but Sonic had no problem in rushing right by and keeping his momentum on the wall.

"There. Better keep my lead…"

Tails groaned as Sonic zoomed down the road to the ground, while all he could do was just stay in the air. He wasn't afraid of heights-especially if he could fly in the first place- but looking down made him nervous, and this could sometimes cause his tails to stop spinning. He cringed, remembering a particularly painful experience. Luckily for him, he caught a breeze that blew him to the next part without any trouble. Unluckily for him, Sonic was caught in the same draft.

"You're keepin' up pretty good!" praised Sonic. Tails let out a huff.

"Yeah…"

Sonic smiled as they landed- he could see the Chaos Emerald just ahead! He could get it no problem…but the tired look on Tails' face made his expression soften.

"Chaos Emerald up ahead!" he exclaimed, flipping forward to perform a trick to get to it. Tails gasped as his chance was handed right to him and flew as fast as he could. Sonic continued to smile, seeing his plan was working. As he uncurled out of his flipping position, Tails flew down and claimed the Chaos Emerald for himself.

"Yeah! I did it Sonic!"

Sonic landed and snapped his fingers. "Darn. I could've got it, but I was overconfident and decided to do a trick. Oh well- live and learn!"

Tails danced around with the prize in his hands. "I beat Sonic! I beat Sonic! That wasn't too bad after all"

Sonic chuckled and gave him a playful punch on the shoulder. "Don't pat yourself too hard on the back- after all, if I didn't do that stunt, that emerald would be mine!"

Tails stared at it. "You're right- but_ I_ still _won!" _He then handed the power gem to the hedgehog. "Here Sonic. I got it, so you should be able to hang onto it!"

"Thanks little buddy!" he gladly accepted what was being offered and tucked it into his quills. Sonic ruffled his hand in Tails' headfur. "Now…ready to go find another one?"

"Sure am! Let's roll!"

He grabbed Sonic's hand and carried him to more level ground, then raced away to their next destination, the dark blue Chaos Emerald leading them every step of the way.

And while they were running, Tails realized the voice he had heard was what gave him the extra push he needed in the first place… he suddenly stopped and glanced around one last time- simply out of paranoia. Nothing. He shrugged and ran after Sonic.

_"Go to Station Square. You might find something."_

Tails blinked and instantly slowed to a stop. "Sonic…maybe we should head back to Station Square first…"


	4. Don't Press Your Luck

Open Your Heart

Chapter 3: Don't Press Your Luck

The sparkle floated furiously back to Knuckles later that night, happy she could be of assistance to the little fox. She was going to need as many people as possible to help her stop the threat on the horizon, but how was the spirit supposed to do that when the heroes didn't even know the half of it! Fortunately for her, she had found a special connection with the red echidna, and decided she would show him first...

----

When the feminine sparkle located Knuckles again, he was walking around Station Square, continuing his hunt for Emerald Pieces. The sun had set, and now Knuckles was searching in the dark. Talk about a blind find. The echidna didn't notice the sparkle, as he was too emersed in his scavenger hunt. That was, until a voice rang out.

"Hey! Hey you, New Guy!"

Knuckles froze. Someone was calling to him! Oh great… he turned around to see a sleazy looking man stride up to him. Knuckles sighed and folded his arms.

"Can I help you?"

"No, but I think _I _can help _you_!"

Knuckles raised an eye ridge. "Oh really? And how do you plan to do that?"

The man threw an arm around Knuckles, slightly crouching down to his height.

"I just so happened to see you walking down the street searching for some good entertainment! I've never seen ya before, so I knew you're new!"

"You're right about two things: I'm new and I'm searching for something." He wrestled out of the man's arm and started to walk off. "But the something I'm looking for is worth more than your life, man, so I'd best not waste anymore time."

The man scowled- he was losing him! Trying one last time, he ran to catch up with Knuckles.

"I certainly know one place worth more than your life and my life combined! The Casino!"

Knuckles slowed up, but didn't stop. What the heck was a Casino?! Sounded like some kind of snack food to him! First City Hall, now this "casino" place. It was times like this he wished he knew more about city life. Trying to hide the fact he didn't even know what he was looking for, Knuckles turned around and asked where the Casino was.

"If you keep going straight, you'll see a left turn. Take that, and ya can't miss the Casino's neon sign!"

Knuckles gave a nod. "Thanks." Then, he hesitated. "One last thing…have you seen any sign of a blue hedgehog around lately?"

The man rested his chin in his palm. "Erm…I know who you're talking about-who wouldn't?!- but his activity around here as been pretty low as of late. I personally haven't seen him in months!"

"All right then. You can go now…"

Knuckles took a step, then glided like a super hero around the corner. The man was slightly sorry he even involved himself with that guy…

---

Knuckles landed in front of the place the guy had said was the Casino. A bit too bright for his tastes, but he didn't chose where Emerald pieces landed. Besides, his mind was more focused around Sonic, recalling their first meeting- technically, he ambushed them and took the Chaos Emeralds the Master Emerald told him they had. He frowned- was he such a jerk back then? Had the island influenced his outlook on people? Or was it because he was constantly alone he wasn't sure of how to act around them?

_"Not again…I've been thinking the same thing over and over again since they left me. They invaded my island; I did what I had to do."_ Knuckles shoved the thought away. _"I gotta keep going…I can feel the Emerald Pieces inside!"_

He jogged into the entrance, then stopped on the spot. Lights, games, music, slot machines, a fountain, gold tokens with Sonic's younger face on them… Knuckles could officially say his mind was blown. His eye turned to the fountain once more, realizing an Emerald Piece rested in it. Some idiot must've thrown it in for a wish…

"Casino must have some kind of brainwashing curse on them…" Knuckles muttered, jumping into the water and fishing out the prize. He flew off the edge of the fountain, landing on a lower floor…and stopped breathing.

Standing 30 feet taller than him was a bigger-than-life size golden statue of Sonic the Hedgehog- with spotlights shining on him to match. The gold was even tinted to slightly match his blue fur and red shoes- the gold buckle was already done perfectly! Sonic's arms were folded, the pointer finger of his right hand pointing out. That was one of the three poses he remembered Sonic being in. Still, his eyes were starting to hurt from staring at it so hard…

"Ow…was it only 5 years?" he breathed. It was the third most amazing thing he'd ever seen (not that he'd seen very much in his 16-year life), following the Master Emerald and Super Sonic. All this time…he had been helping people, stopping Robotnik's minor schemes, and gained himself enough respect to have a solid gold statue in some fancy casino! Why was his life so easy?! Anger rushed up into Knuckles' fist, and with a terrifying shatter and crash, the Sonic Statue rained down in pieces. Somehow, a piece of the Master Emerald wound up inside the statue, and Knuckles collected it without a second thought.

_"You envy him don't you?"_

"I sure as rings don't!" Knuckles shouted to the voice, putting the piece away for safe keeping and heading for the highest level. "I just don't understand why these people worship that guy! I mean, he chases after some fat guy then uses the Chaos Emeralds -that should be in my possession- to stop him! While he gets the credit for that, there are other people wasting their lives guarding something they promised someone they'd protect, but do they get any thanks for that!? NO!"

Knuckles' anger cooled down several degrees when he realized he was shouting to himself- this was probably due to the massive sweat drop.

"…I'd like to meet this voice in person sometime…"

He grunted as he regained footing, then spotted a third piece inside a beast's mouth. As soon as he reached in to grab it, the mouth slammed shut and nearly took off Knuckles' arm. He was taken by such surprise he fell out of the air and hit his head against the floor.

"Ooh…casinos are painful…"

When his eyesight was corrected, he let out a wail as a massive hand was getting ready to turn him into a knuckle-pancake. The echidna rolled out of the way, seeing just in time the mouth open again, and flipped right through and snagged it without stopping. He felt his tail brush against the cold, snapping metal of the jaw. Knuckles opened his palm and saw the Emerald Piece inside- the feat had been worth it.

-----

Upon arriving in Station Square, Sonic and Tails were tired from the trip. It had been late afternoon when they left, and now it was early evening. Sonic yawned as he stepped off the train for the second time that day.

"Aaaaaahhmm…Tails, why'd we come back to Station Square anyway?"

Tails blushed. "Um…an inner voice told me to?"

"Are you sure we should trust this voice of yours? We're talkin' about Chaos Emeralds here, you know…"

"You always say to open your heart to possibilities though, Sonic, and I trust it!"

Sonic was beaten. "All right, you win. But where are we supposed to look first anyway?"

The same man who had bothered Knuckles suddenly ran up to them.

"Mr. Sonic! What an ironic coincidence!" he exclaimed. Sonic held up a finger.

"One moment bud- if you're gonna run up to me like a fan, you really need to just call me Sonic…"

"I had to learn the hard way!" Tails added innocently.

"Right, right-sorry. Anyway, I just, um, met this guy, and he was asking about you! I couldn't say much though- it's been months since I've seen you romping around the city!"

Sonic shrugged. "I was on a bit of a vacation…but who was this guy?"

The man frowned. "Ah, fruit cocktail- can't remember. I do recall he was a short fellow like you-maybe a bit taller though. I sent him to the Casino, and if you know a good casino when you see one, he's probably still there!"

Sonic turned to Tails. "Looks like coming here wasn't a waste after all! We're heading to Casinopolis!"

----

Right before Knuckles reached the exit, the sparkle spirit finally decided it was the right time to show Knuckles what she needed to show. She hovered right in front of Knuckles' face to get him to stop, then. like a little red tornado, she circled him.

"Hey! What're you doing?!" Knuckles roared.

_"Remember what I said this morning?"_

The voice…the voice was coming from the sparkle before?! How did he miss something like that? Urgh…how was he missing it _now?! _Knuckles shielded his eyes from the increasingly blinding light. It was so bad, he had to close both eyes then cover them up with his massive palms.

"Ow! I get it, I get it already!"

The pain in his eyes began to decrease, and he could finally regain his sight of…not the casino?!

"Where in the world am I?! I don't remember being here before…"

Several pyramid-like ziggurats with several hundred stairs leading into their entrances took over the entire place. As Knuckles took a second look around, he noticed the place wasn't as strange as he thought.

"Something about thing place…feels familiar! Hmm…it's awfully strange…"

The place…it was so advanced for seemingly being native in origin. Knuckles explored wandering down the rock-paved roads, gaping at the structures, and observing the small fire that lined the paths. But as he traveled, he became increasingly frightened.

There were echidnas, just like him only more of a pink-red color, walking around like they've been there forever. Now Knuckles was concerned.

"Where did that red light take me!?" he exclaimed. "I wouldn't be as freaked out if it was just a native village…but _echidnas- _that looked like older versions of me! I'm supposed to be the last one!"

His widened eyes came across the large ziggurat in the middle of the civilization. Instinct kicked in; Knuckles glided up the steps until they ended. It wasn't high enough though…his head tilted back as far as it could go, spying the very top of the structure. Knuckles grinned and balled up both his palms.

"Time to…well, I can't think of a good "knuckle" pun so I'll just climb up."

He pounded one fist into the wall, his spiky spur penetrating the stone like paper. Repeating the process, he climbed up at least five walls of ziggurat until he reached the very top. Huffing, Knuckles threw a hand on the edge and strained to pull himself up. Now on way higher ground, he could see every aspect of the place and even over the horizon- but he couldn't look that far, because his mind was still stuck on the fact other echidnas were taking casual strolls around the blocks. When he came back down, he had tried to talk to a few, but they all stared at him and snorted "Hey! Get out of my way!"

"Hmph! Not how _I'd_ treat a brother of the echidnas…" Knuckles muttered, thinking about the latest incident. He glanced around the place, spotting something very interesting…

Female echidna.

Even more rare than him, as Knuckles had never seen one before. He figured they must've existed, since he needed one to be here in the first place, but that didn't change the fact he didn't know what one looked like. Now with an piqued interest, he flew down as fast as he could and landed just out of sight of the girl and what was probably her father. The girl was an orange echidna, with bright blue eyes, a small yellow band with a blue gem on her forehead, and native clothing, while the elder man was…well, elder.

"Perhaps I can ask them where I am and what's going on…" Knuckles mused quietly.

"Father, please don't!" the girl cried. Knuckles eyes were threatening to pop out if they grew any wider that day. She had the same voice as the sparkle!

"Tikal, the seven Chaos Emeralds are essential to our survival…" the elder scolded. "It is for the good of all our people."

"How can I make you understand?" Tikal sighed. "Attacking other countries, stealing and killing…it can't be the right path to peace! No one has the right to take their holy grounds! I beg you father!"

Knuckles continued to watch until the vision he was seeing faded out.

----

"There it is, Tails. Casinopolis!" Sonic cheered, spreading his arms wide for emphasis. "Since they don't open for another hour, we can get in without any worries!"

"But if it's not open, how do we get in in the first place?" Tails asked.

"Oh, don't worry…" Sonic smirked. "…I know a secret way to open the door!"

"Open sesame?"

"Uh, no."

Sonic curled into ball form, then spin dashed into the coin on the roof of the entrance. It spun around, and like magic, the doors opened instantly! Tails gasped.

"Wow Sonic- how did you know that!?"

Sonic came back down and struck a pose. "It was an accident at first-I was looking around for some target practice a while ago…and you must be able to put two and two together for the rest, huh?"

"Yeah…" Suddenly, Sonic started to shake.

"What the heck?!"

He reached deep into his quills and pulled out their Chaos Emerald- it was flashing like mad! The two friends exchanged looks.

"You don't think…"

"…there must be an emerald in there?"

Both blinked. Then, Sonic grinned.

"I have an idea of where in the casino it can be! Follow me, Tails!"

Sonic hurried through the doors, Tails unsurely chasing after.

"You think we'll see the guy that man was talking about?"

Sonic shrugged. "Probably not. Unless he knows the secret way in too, I bet he left 'cause the place is closed."

"Logical."

Once inside the casino, and after Sonic made a mad dash to make sure no one was in there, he motioned for Tails and they snuck around the place.

"Sonic, what exactly are we looking for?"

Sonic, who was hitting every button and feeling every wall, hardly answered Tails.

"Secret…area…somewhere…"

Tails mind raced. How would Sonic know that there would be a hidden part of the Casino?

"Have you been here before?" he asked suspiciously. Sonic chuckled.

"I know what you're getting at. Just once…when they were revealing a giant gold statue of me- IT'S GONE!"

Tails' ears pressed hard against his head as he hurried to figure out why Sonic was screaming. He found his older brother with a horror stricken face, pointing at a pile of golden shards. Tails eyes flashed in realization.

" Was that-"

Sonic gave a solemn nod. "You know I don't like to let my fame go too over my head, but…well, it was really nice of people to make me into gold! Now…might as well make gold nuggets out of me!"

Tails put a reassuring hand on Sonic's shoulder. "S'okay Sonic! Don't let it get ya too down!"

Sonic smiled and ruffled up Tails' fur again. "I know, kiddo. I just wish I knew _why_ whoever did it did it…"

To take Sonic's mind off the tragedy, Tails reminded him of the Chaos Emerald and Sonic continued with his intent search. They suddenly ran over a weak piece of floor and fell through. Tails instantly started flying and could only manage to grab Sonic by the foot. This caused him to accidentally drop Sonic on his face.

"Doh! I dink doo bent my dose…"

"Sorry! Sorry Sonic…it was either that or land flat on your face from 15.5 feet instead!"

Sonic fiddled with his nose while standing back up. "Meh, don't worry about it! We're in the secret casino underground anyway! I'm sure the Chaos Emerald is lying around here!"

"In that case, let's go!"

Too bad neither of them were expecting razor blades and traps everywhere, delaying their plan. Sonic rushed by without even thinking while Tails braked to a stop as his eyes filled with fear. Three large pyramid bots tried to crash down on him, but Tails jetted forward with a terrified yelp before they hit. Sonic slowed up to wait for Tails, who did a somersault under a closing door.

"All right Tails! Ya made it!"

"Great…"

"Maybe we should stick together in this one, huh?"

"I like the sound of that idea…"

They stayed as close as possible while a large fan blew them upwards, similar to when they were in Windy Valley. Sonic landed first in the hallway, reaching back to grab Tails who almost kept floating upwards like a balloon. Tails gave a nervous laugh as thanks; Sonic returned it with a wink and sped down the hall. Tails, for some reason, was having trouble keeping it up.

"I must've overused my tails back in the valley…" he groaned.

"C'mon Tails!"

Sonic had called for him, not in an impatient, hurry-up tone, but more of an encouraging one. It gave Tails enough confidence to reach Sonic before they tumbled into another fan room.

"This is sure an up-lifting experience, huh Tails?" Sonic chuckled, hoping to raise Tails' spirits.

"I guess it- oh I get it! Up-lifting! Good one Sonic!"

Sonic sighed happily. "Well, I try…"

Tails rolled his eyes. He took Sonic's hand and flew him into the next hallway. It started smoothly, but when more "Pyro-bots" and spikes sprang up, he went from leader to follower. He climbed onto Sonic's back- in between his back spikes and avoiding his head ones- allowing Sonic to take over.

"You ready for this?"

"You haven't given me a ride in forever! I don't know anymore!"

"Well let's end forever now, shall we?"

Tails at least had enough common sense to hang onto Sonic's shoulders while the latter bolted off, leaping over spikes, dodging rotating spike balls and ducking under Pyro-bots at an insane speed.

"Why are there so many traps!?" Tails wailed over the commotion.

"Because the Chaos Emerald is just ahead- high security, you know!"

"Oooooh- wait, Chaos Emerald?!"

Sonic made a daring leap over all obstacles, cuing Tails to fly them the rest of the way. The young fox held tightly to the hedgehog's shoulders; one fateful drop could spike their instant death. Nevertheless, Tails reached the small room with the silver-white Chaos Emerald, allowing Sonic to snag it this time.

"hm. Seemed pretty simple for guarding a Chaos Emerald…" he mused.

"I'm sure the owner of the casino didn't expect anyone to check under the building, after all…"

Sonic tossed the Emerald to Tails while replying with a, "That could be true."

Tails sluggishly caught the Chaos Emerald with a startled look. "Y-You're trusting _me_ with this? Eggman took the other one from me and-"

"That's 'cause he took you by surprise, squirt. I certainly don't blame you for that!" He then pulled out his blue one. "'Sides, I have one, you have one! It's only fair!"

Tails wasn't going to argue; he was actually pleased that Sonic trusted him with something this big! Excitedly, he flew them back out the hole they fell in and excited the Casino.

---

"I can't believe we've found two already!" Tails all but shrieked. Sonic instantly whirled into a fighting stance and sharply told Tails to can it. A floating vehicle prepared to dive-bomb them, but both heroes jumped out of the way, Sonic shouting "HEY!"

Tails had done a flip to avoid, inwardly wondering what almost hit them, until he heard a faint clink hit the ground.

"Oh no, the Chaos Emerald!" Sonic exclaimed, running for it not even two yards away. Tails' cry of "Oh man I'm so sorry!" slowed him down, however. Eggman, in his new vehicle, shook both his fists angrily.

"Oh no you don't! Get away from there!"

A purple mist formed, coming out of a tank stored in the vehicle. Sonic took a dive for the Emerald, but was blinded by the mist and was forced to retreat and shield his face.

"Aw jeez!"

Tails flew in to help, but also breathed in the toxics and dropped like a rock.

"Ahhhh!"

Eggman grinned devishly as a tractor beam pulled the crystal clear emerald into his clutches. Cackling quite madly, he wasted no time in getting away.

"Night-night! Ha ha ha ha!"

Tails' eyes instantly closed shut, falling into a sitting position and going to sleep. Sonic fought to keep standing, but weariness clouded his eyes. He reached one hand out to try and grab the villain, too tired to realize this wouldn't work.

"Eggman…" was the last thing he muttered before falling hard onto the street, knocked unconscious.

* * *

**I almost like Chapter 4 as much as I like 6...but anyway, before someone starts ranting on Knuckles and how he'd never seen a casino or a female echina before, I say: look at the facts! He lives on a island with almost no possible way to build a casino, and there's no actual zone there that has "casino" in the title. Technically, this is the first time ever Knuckles has had a casino level. And for the "female echidna" thing, that kinda explains itself, but I've read things where Knuckles lived with his parents (MOM) until they died when he was some young age, and I believe that, but that doesn't apply to this story! And don't throw any comic logic in this either...man I hate when that happens...**

**That aside, happy Tuesday! (Or Wednesday!)**


	5. Never Trust a Rotten Egg

Open Your Heart

Chapter 4: Never Trust a Rotten Egg

Knuckles reappeared outside of the Casino, utterly dazed and confused.

"Uhh! Now where am I?" Double-check. "Back in Station Square I see."

He placed his hands on his hips and thought, looking up toward the sky.

"What's going on here anyway?"

Knuckles was about to run off, until he saw Sonic and Tails sitting on the side of the street after their encounter with Eggman. Tails was out cold while Sonic was twitching, like he was trying to battle the sleep to go away. He felt his heart jump. They looked so different…

_"Well duh! It's been five years!" _He told himself fin his head.

Still, he couldn't help but notice that Sonic's short, firm quills had grown into longer, slightly more flexible ones and he had swapped his old gloves for more roomier ones. Also, Tails' tails were also longer, along with his bangs and his fur in general. Tails growing wasn't as much of a surprise- Tails was only four ½ back then anyway.

"Mmmm…I wonder what these guys are doing…"

The small reunion was all Knuckles had needed- just seeing them made his mind race in several different thoughts. He shouldn't have cared about them- especially when he hated certain parts of Sonic's personality!

"…but they helped me save the Master Emerald…"

That was what held it all together. Knuckles made a face, shook his head, and carried on. He couldn't help but think- what had caused those two to end up there anyhow? His possible answer was in the form of a round man in a long red coat entering a hotel.

"Is that…Robotnik?"

Knuckles took off after the Doctor, surprisingly not making him jump when he burst through the doors. He spotted something sparkly in his hand, and he instantly considered the worst.

"It's gotta be a part of the Master Emerald!"

Eggman disappeared into the elevator, not hearing Knuckles shouting after him.

Eggman took a few steps closer- another Chaos Emerald was just what the Doctor ordered! Knuckles dramatically arrived out of the same elevator, but still not being noticed.

"Eggman!" Knuckles barked, using the insult he once heard Sonic call him. "Give me back the Master Emerald!"

Finally, Eggman jumped. He turned around to see an echidna holding up a threatening fist. "Kn-Knuckles? Uhh…this isn't what you're after!"

It technically _wasn't_- it was only a Chaos Emerald. Knuckles saw the reason.

"You're right."

Eggman hid a grin. "That's okay though- I can use you as a guinea pig to test it!"

Knuckles was about to refuse, but was cut off by two shouts of "Chaos!". He heard a sound like gurgling water and noticed he was standing in an all-too familiar puddle. He jumped out of the liquid as it started to take shape into the very thing the shattered the Master Emerald and had the nerve to knock Knuckles down the stairs.

"That's the creature I saw on my island!" he exclaimed, half-informing Eggman, half voicing his thoughts. "He was there when the Master Emerald shattered! I'm sure of it!"

Knuckles narrowed his eyes. "He saved me the trouble of looking for him. Now I'll get him good!"

Eggman's smile broke free as he threw the Chaos Emerald to Chaos like a dog treat. Chaos absorbed it, now having both arms be massive with some type of metal-looking bone for support. The usual two spikes on its head had grown to three, and it was looking quite menacing.

"Ha ha ha ha! Way to go, Chaos!"

"Ha! Changing shape won't scare me!" Knuckles snorted. "Give it your best shot!"

"Too bad you don't understand the Chaos Emeralds charging its power, fool! Then you wouldn't show the creature any mercy at all!"

Chaos 2 began the battle by transforming into a large, bouncing bubble, Knuckles running around the room thinking of how to fight it. He certainly didn't have any experience before hand! Eventually, Chaos returned to normal form and just stood there, panting heavily. The flashing brain seemed to call Knuckles' attention. He instantly braked on his heels, then plowed a fist into Chaos' head. It roared and went into bubble mode, bulldozing right over Knuckles. Knuckles went head first into the water, unable to breath for a few seconds and causing him to lose precious rings. Once Chaos removed himself, Knuckles started hacking up water.

"Aw, that was _nasty!" _he sputtered. A he wiped the liquid off the side of his mouth, he sent a dark glare to Chaos. "Wanna play like that, huh?"

The second Chaos went back to normal, Knuckles was furiously punching at him, but some type of shield prevented any damage. Chaos would have grinned; it was the perfect chance to smite his opponent! He brought up a massive fist, hitting Knuckles square in the jaw and sending him flying. Knuckles hit the ground hard.

"Urrrrhhh…"

Chaos had to stop and mutely chuckle at the pain he caused Knuckles. Using a chance of his own, Knuckles wobbled back to his feet, glided up, and forced a spiked knuckle into Chaos' head. Chaos grabbed the sore spot and hissed madly. He bubbled up for a third time, bounding after Knuckles with no signs of letting up. Knuckles was getting pretty tired from all the running he had done, much less the battle itself. He pounded a wall, climbing up and onto the ceiling. Chaos started to bounce up to hit him, but didn't get quite high enough to reach Knuckles and ended up splattering back into humanoid form. Knuckles came down from the ceiling once he was sure Chaos' shield had worn off. Chaos saw him coming, which left Knuckles open when he tried to attack, but Knuckles was faster and did another blow to Chaos' brain. Eggman lightly frowned on the sidelines.

_"Hope he doesn't get any brain damage…"_

"Aragh!"

Knuckles jumped at the right moment to avoid being punched in the gut. Chaos frustratedly melted into a puddle, slithered the other side of the room, then came back up as a bubble. Knuckles scoffed.

"Using the same tactics against me isn't very wise!"

Chaos did a massive bounce and plowed Knuckles into a wall. Knuckles was slammed hard. To him, that might as well have been a tsunami! He fell off the wall as Chaos bounced around some more.

"Hang in there, Knuckles…" he told himself before coughing up another bucket's worth of water. Chaos went out of bubble form- but this time, he melted straight into puddle form. Knuckles almost discounted it-if it wasn't for Chaos suddenly expanding. He let out a gasp as he flew for higher ground, attaching himself like a fly on the wall. "Maybe that wasn't such a good idea…"

Chaos reassembled himself as Knuckles started to peel off the wall. Knuckles really didn't want to move after this battle, but one last roll away from a water-fist crushing him might not be so bad…

It. Just. Missed. Him.

Knuckles grunted and ran at Chaos like a bullet. He jumped over another oncoming fist and use his newly acquired air to force his fist into Chaos one last time. Chaos roared and did was he always did when he lost: melt into a puddle. It prevented less harm. Eggman was infuriated at first, but then cooled down with a plan.

"Bah! So what if you won this time? You have yet to see the true powers of Chaos!"

Knuckles just snorted. "Yeah, yeah. That still doesn't faze me, you hear?"

Eggman grinned. Perfect chance. "I know something that might…it's about Sonic."

Knuckles wasn't fazed- he was paralyzed. He tried his best not to show it. "What? What about Sonic?"

"He's after the pieces of the Master Emerald too!"

Eggman turned and walked away. His work had been done. Knuckles was so confused he swore his eyes were spinning.

"What do you mean?"

Eggman's mustache straightened out on end. "You're not the only one on a wild goose chase, **idiot!** Why should I ruin your surprise?"

_"Why won't you cave in already!?"_

Knuckles walked straight toward Eggman, then started hanging his head in thought. Sonic? After the pieces too? There was no way…yes, he didn't trust Sonic, no he didn't want to trust Eggman, and wasn't Sonic just sitting on the street not even half an hour ago? But what reason would Sonic have for taking the Emeralds- better yet, did _he_ have any idea it was shattered in the first place? Knuckles looked back up to see Eggman gone.

"I wonder what he meant by that…" he squirmed uncomfortably. "I'd better find Sonic…"

If he had even considered for a second Eggman might've been responsible for knocking Sonic and Tails out, he wouldn't have decided that Eggman was right by chance.

Knuckles hadn't learned from the last time he trusted Eggman, that was for sure…

He left the hotel, dashed outside and around the corner to the Casino, extremely surprised to see Sonic and Tails gone.

"What?! But how-"

He glanced up at the sky- today was tomorrow.

----

Sonic wouldn't stop twitching until the sun came up. Finally, he was able to break free of sleep and stand up once again, as if nothing had happened. Tails woke up at the same time he did. He thought it was still night, but got a wake up call when the sun was beating heavily down upon them. Tails eyes slammed shut again, trying to shrink his pupils.

"Ow! Ugh…Sonic…"

He blindly felt around his fur for the Chaos Emerald Sonic gave him, only to feel his heart stop when it wasn't there.

"What happened to the Chaos Emerald?"

Sonic instantly realized the gas must've done more than knock out Tails- it gave him short-term amnesia since his mind was more prone to the toxins. He was about to say that Tails had dropped it into Eggman's reach -this time, it _was_ Tails' fault- but he wasn't going to hurt his feelings by saying that.

_"'cause it's _my_ fault for giving him the Emerald when he wasn't sure he could handle it…"_

Sonic just shrugged and shook his head. "Argh, all I can say is that Eggman's got one of 'em, but the other one's safe. That guy must be desperate!"

"Now the Emerald count is two to one, and Eggman's winning. Let's get a move on!"

Sonic knew he was right, but he couldn't bring himself to respond to Tails. He just took off, Tails flying not too high behind him.

"Should we head back to Mystic Ruins?" Tails suggested.

"Yeah, that'd be our best bet."

They rushed to the train station before it took off for the first time that day, taking whatever seats were available. Tails was shifting uncomfortably, and it finally got the better of Sonic.

"Okay Tails, what's up?"

"W-Well, I was thinking…since I had the Emerald Eggman nabbed, I don't think I should get the next one…."

Sonic raised an eye ridge. "Why not?"

"'Cause I'll probably lose it again! He hasn't taken an Emerald when it was in your possession!"

"This is true…"

"I wish I could remember how he got it from me…" Tails sighed, sliding down in his seat. Sonic chuckled and wrapped the kid in a hug.

"Trust me Tails, no you don't.


	6. Drawing the Lines

Open Your Heart

Chapter 5: Drawing the Lines

Knuckles had started the new day with a very long walk to Mystic Ruins. He wasn't quite there yet, but with the landscape rapidly changing, he knew he was getting close. All the while, he just couldn't stop thinking about Sonic.

"I wonder why Sonic is after the Master Emerald…"

The same thought for the 24th time and counting. But it just honestly didn't add up! The only way to find out for sure was to talk to Sonic himself.

"I'd better work fast and get to the bottom of this!"

**Meanwhile-**

"I can't believe I never noticed that opening before!" Tails called over the strong artic wind.

"I can't believe there was a cave full of ice in a place like Mystic Ruins! So _this_ is how you get to Ice Cap!"

The climate was cold, the weather was snowy, and the sight was nothing but white. They had started off trudging through the snow, but Tails had slipped on a hidden patch of ice. It surprised him so much, he started to scream at the top of his lungs. Sonic put on a look of horror before hopping to his side and slamming a fist over mouth.

"Tails, no screaming! Especially on the side of a mountain like this!"

"Sorry! I got scared…"

"I know buddy, but ya _gotta_ be careful! Too much noise could cause a-"

Too late.

"…avalanche…" Sonic gritted over the roar of the snow. He grabbed Tails' hand and tried to run, but the snow was seriously slowing him down. Luckily, he spotted something that would be more useful than a Chaos Emerald.

"Snowboard!"

Two snowboards rested at the bottom of the hill, as if they were meant for them. This was slightly proven by the fact Sonic's was cobalt blue and Tails' was a yellow-orange. Sonic eagerly jumped onto his while Tails floated unsurely after. One glance at the rapid snow following him made him change his mind.

"W-wait for me, Sonic!"

He gave a hearty push to get his snowboard started, not expecting to fly off the edge of a cliff. His landing was incredibly sluggish, and it really didn't help when he saw Sonic shredding like a pro- shoot, he was even pulling off _tricks!_ It was all Tails could do to keep the board going and him upright.

"C'mon Tails! Up the cool!" Sonic urged, performing a perfect 360 twist followed by a back flip after flying off a rock.

"Be lucky I'm still alive! AHHH!"

Tails' arms were flailing like mad, his board jerking about like an out-of-control jet ski. Sonic would've helped, but with the avalanche and gravity, it wasn't all the possible. They leapt over another edge, making Tails groan.

"Oh, not trees…"

Sonic curved around the trees with his eyes closed.

_"Show-off…"_ Tails muttered while being scraped by a branch. "How do you steer this thing!?"

"Just moved your front foot in the direction you want to go, then bring your back foot afterward!"

"O-Okay…"

He did as he was told and would've crashed into a cliff if he didn't veer in the opposite direction at the right moment. He gave Sonic a glare as the hedgehog grinned sheepishly.

"Eehhh…"

Tails just sighed and flew over trees instead of around them. The trees slowly turned into ice spike scattered about the place, Sonic promising himself not to do anything to outshine Tails. He couldn't help that snowboarding was second nature- especially if running was first! But he had to do a trick on one particular orange ramp, otherwise he wasn't able to make it to the other side! Tails gave up snowboarding and flew over the jump-off.

"I hate snowboarding. I'm not good at it…"

"Chill out Tails- it's just your first time anyway!" Sonic assured. "Besides, we're almost at the bottom already!"

A sudden whoosh overhead melted their smiles. Both snowboards tilted their heads up to see Badniks shooting missiles at them.

"Why always _missiles!?"_

They jerked from side the side, avoiding snow blasting out of the ground. Sonic took a lower path while Tails was aimed at a higher one- and this one had a ramp.

"Oh no-oh no-oh no!"

He couldn't just fly over it; that would give a robot perfect aim at him! Tails gulped and leaned slightly forward. Just at the edge of the ramp, he brought the board up, grabbed the bottom, rotated around, and avoided two missiles.

"Hiyah!" he cried while landing perfectly next to Sonic. Sonic clapped his hands.

"Good job Tails! You pulled off a trick!"

Tails laughed sheepishly. "Th-thanks…I think I just did it on accident though!"

Sonic shrugged. "So? You still did it! …hang on a moment."

He jumped backwards off his snowboard, doing a backward spin dash into the robots that were trying to ambush them. They exploded on the spot, Sonic doing a light spin in mid-air. He saw his snowboard continuing to sail down the hill.

"Heh heh…"

With a "hmph!" he curled up again, forward position, with the target being his snowboard. Like a bullet, he cut through the air and unrolled right above the sled, gaining control at the last second to snag the green Chaos Emerald and brake. Tails just let gravity do the rest of his work- his mouth was starting to hurt the rest of his face due to how fast and how long his jaw had dropped.

"What's the matter Tails?" Sonic asked with a smirk. spinning the tip of the Emerald on his finger.

"How come you're so cool?! That was awesome!!" he cheered to the sky before Sonic threw his hand on Tails' mouth again.

"Not that I don't appreciate the compliments and all, but one avalanche just stopped, and we **really** don't need another…"

Tails said a muffled apology before grabbing Sonic and flying them back to Mystic Ruins.

-----

Knuckles thrust another fist into the side of an innocent cliff. While he was searching for Sonic, he told himself, he might as well hunt down some other Emerald Pieces. The sparkle flittered by his side again, though he wasn't going to be insane enough to spew out his life story to it again.

He did ask it a question, however. "Where am I supposed to look first?"

The spirit went thoughtful. _"Wasn't there something shiny in the caves?"_

Knuckles' eyes lit up. "Good point."

He jogged up to said cavern and traveled in. An explorer told him that there was a cavern deeper in with a wall blocking it off.

"Can I try breaking into it?" he asked.

"Pah! Give it your best shot! Our latest drilling technology can't even do that!" the explorer snorted.

"Oh, don't worry…" Knuckles snickered, holding up his fists. "I'll be a real smash-hit!"

He dashed into said cavern, and believe it or not, a wall of very hardened clay blocked off whatever was behind it. The sparkle hovered next to the wall and gasped.

_"I can feel something's energy behind here!"_

Knuckles revved up his hand. "Then step aside and let me take a whack at it!"

_"Please, enough with the punch puns…"_ she groaned.

"What? Sonic's allowed to do that and I'm not?"

She sighed, but still moved out of the way as Knuckles bolted forward, both fist extended in front of him. They plowed into the wall, only managing to crack it. Knuckles' jaw dropped.

"No way! I pound it, and it just cracks?! I can break concrete with hardly any effort!"

_"Calm down. Don't let it do a _blow_ to your ego!"_

"Hey! If I can't use a pun, you can't either!"

_"Just try hitting the wall until it crumbles!"_

"…I was going to do that."

He punched the wall; the crack grew bigger. Punched again; same thing happened. It was a rapid block-busting frenzy until Knuckles delivered a mighty blow to the very center, causing the walls around them to shake as the clay finally crumbled. Knuckles shielded his eyes as a green light emerged. His eyes adjusted to see the sparkle hovering around an item of some sort.

"Go on. Take it Knuckles!"

Knuckles cautiously stepped forward, hand reaching for the prize. Whatever it was instantly slid onto his fists, and it made his hands even heavier.

_"You've got the Shovel Claw. Now you can dig through dirt and stone!"_

"Where were these when I was trying to get to them?"

_"You had to prove you were worthy of them…but at least your attack power increases when you have these!"_

Knuckles slugged the air; same speed, same accuracy, but very difficult. He was going to use these in case of emergency…

"Yeah, these will definitely come in handy, but they're throwing off my swing. Mind if I take 'em off 'til I need them?"

_"It's not up to me- they're yours now!"_

Knuckles nodded and took them off, storing them away for later. Right now, he need to find some shards! He motioned for the spirit, and they ran out the other entrance of the cavern, the explorer looking on at them in disbelief.

On the other side was a vast plain with rocks here and there, surrounded by walls of cliff. The sparkle suddenly flew to the right and disappeared.

_"This way!"_

Knuckles scrambled after, almost running straight off the edge. She was floating on a ledge 5 yards down, a Master Emerald shard lying next to her. He felt his "sense" faintly go off. He took a few steps back, then jetted forward and pushed off with his foot. Knuckles soared to the ledge, the sense going mad telling him he was getting closer.

"I know, I know!" he barked to it. The sparkle would've raised an eyebrow if she had one. Knuckles flipped onto the ground and snagged the Emerald. However, his sense didn't stop tingling. "What? There's another one?"

_"Remember how I said Emerald Pieces can fall out of enemies too?"_

"Yeah but there's-" he was hit in the back of the head by a U.F.P (Unidentified Flying Projectile) and groaned. "Never mind…"

He twisted around to be face to face with the robot, allowing it the security of thinking it would get the first strike. It dive-bombed toward Knuckles, but Knuckles countered when it flew straight into his balled up hand. An Emerald Piece exploded out of it; Knuckles caught it before it fell into the abyss.

"Two down, probably one more to go…"

_"I see it! It's over there!"_

She motioned toward a far-off rock protruding from a main cliff. On it was the third shard. Knuckles was already flying the air before furiously climbing up the nearest wall. Once he was on the same height as the ledge, he pushed off the cliff, did a back flip in the air, and landed perfectly with the Emerald in his hand.

_"Well, now that we have three from here, what're going to do now?"_ the sparkle questioned.

"I'm going to find Sonic. I don't think he'd be after pieces too, but if whatever Eggman said was true, then I have to consider the possibilities. I'll confront him directly, and see how it goes from there."

_"Are you sure that's the best way to go about it? After all, that's not exactly the first thing you'd want to say to your friends after being apart for years-"_

"They're not my friends, and it doesn't matter how long it's been! I've gotta get to the bottom of this entire mess, and ifthe next step is to get Sonic to tell me what I wanna know, then I've gotta do it whether I like it or not!"

He gave a growl after he finished, stomping off like a provoked bull. The sparkle waited a few steps, then floated slowly behind him. Knuckles just stalked away, not wanting to talk to the sparkle anymore. Who ever said he thought Sonic was a _friend?!_ Well, he thought that they were almost friends, but he never told Miss Sparkly Fluff that! And in his book, the Master Emerald was worth more than friendship…

If he hadn't lived his life alone, he'd be seeing the other way around.

----

Knuckles returned to where he had first entered Mystic Ruins, struck surprised when he heard laughing and running over a hill. He peeked over and saw Sonic and Tails headed right for him!

"They can come to me…"

"You know what Sonic?" Tails asked while flying overhead. "I don't mind snowboarding so much anymore. I just gotta get used to it!"

Sonic laughed. "Next time it snows, maybe I'll get ya your own snowboard and teach you a few moves! How's that?"

"Yeah!"

They stopped right before they reached Knuckles, Sonic pulling out the green Chaos Emerald. He softly looked at Tails.

"Sure you don't wanna keep it?"

Tails nodded before he was even finished. "I'm sure…"

"Okay…but just because I have it doesn't guarantee I won't lose it…"

Knuckles' gasped. "Eggman was right." He then noticed the color of the Chaos Emerald. "What's that in his hand? It looks like a piece of the Master Emerald!"

His face turned into an ugly sneer. "He has no right to have that!"

Tails watched as Sonic stored their emerald away, also spotting Knuckles strolling up to them angrily.

"Hey Knuckles!_ Really_ long time no see!" he called cheerfully. Knuckles' expression didn't falter. Sonic turned around and grinned when he saw Knuckles. Knuckles, however, swung his fists in several different directions and charged at the two, both of them flying out of the way.

"What're you doing, Knuckles?!" yelped Tails.

"Yeah, what do you think you're doing?!" Sonic added.

Knuckles didn't respond to their questions. Like he told the sparkle, he was confronting them directly. "All right. Put 'em up."

Sonic and Tails exchange glances.

"What're you supposed to be? Some cowboy?" snorted Sonic.

"Don't mess with me now! Hand over the Emeralds you have, quick!" Knuckles demanded, referring to the Master Emerald Pieces he thought they had. Sonic and Tails though, thought he was talking about their Chaos Emeralds.

"That's not gonna happen, buddy!" Sonic snapped back, a bit sharper than intended. They already had two snagged away from them- and he certainly wasn't about to let Knuckles do the same if he had anything to say about it!

"Then I'll take them away by force!" Knuckles pulled his Shovel Claws out and snapped them on his knuckles. Sonic tugged on his glove and gave a hard smirk.

"Are you gonna fight him Sonic?" Tails wondered.

"Don't want to, but he needs some sense knocked back into him…"

"Can I help Sonic?"

"No!"

"…_no?_ **Why!?"**

As Sonic turned to explain **why**, Knuckles came down out of the air and clawed Sonic in the head with his newly acquired weapon. Tails screamed and looked down to Sonic, who just moaned and gave a very weak smile to Tails.

"That's why."

* * *

**I posted two chapters since I'm in a very Sonic mood :D. If only I could apply it to "Unleashing Sonic"...**

**Next time we have the super awesome chapter consisting of: Sonic and Knuckles get into a heated battle (with a little help from Tails) until they are forced to join together to take down Chaos 4!**


	7. Punching, Kicking, and Screaming

Open Your Heart

Chapter 6: Punching, Kicking, and Screaming

Tails obeyed Sonic and stepped as far away from the battle as possible. Knuckles had enough honor to let Sonic get back up, but any strike after that, he wouldn't be so lenient. Sonic kept grabbing his head, extremely thankful he hadn't started bleeding.

"Is this how you say hello after five years, Knuckles?" he seethed through his teeth. Knuckles growled.

"It'd be more pleasant if you didn't take away something that's mine, and you know it!"

Knuckles swatted again, Sonic ducking and having a few quills shoveled off. He brought up his leg and kicked Knuckles in the shin, then bounced back up and punched him in the face. Knuckles went flying into the ground, head crashing into a rock. Now he was really mad. He bolted toward Sonic; a move that was easily avoided and countered with a trip.

"Did ya have a nice trip Knuckles? See you next fall!"

Knuckles spat dirt while snarling at Sonic. "That was really lame, if you're looking for someone to critique your jokes!"

Sonic pretended to look hurt. "Aw, that was harsh!"

"My fist is going to be harsher!"

He performed a lighting fast uppercut that sent Sonic flying upwards. Tails shielded his eyes from the sight of Sonic's head getting stuck in a wall.

"I really want to help, but Sonic told me not to!"

Knuckles gave a minute smile as Sonic struggled to yank his head out. It finally popped out with such force, he started tumbling back to the ground. Knuckles saw him falling and sprinted to catch him- on his shovel clawed knuckles. Sonic smirked, did his backward curl-up, then stuck out both him legs and kicked Knuckles in the back of the head, into the ground. Sonic let out a huff as he landed, surprised not to find Knuckles.

"Where'd you go?"

A rumble was heard, coming from underground.

"Let's just say you grounded me!" Knuckles cried while bursting out from the dirt. He glided down to the surprised Sonic and backhanded him across the face. Sonic yelled, more from the stinging pain on his cheek than from the massive "grass-burn" he received. His eyes were wide. Sonic sat up, staring at Knuckles charging for him once again.

"You just backhanded me!"

"Way to be observant."

Tails couldn't take it anymore. "You're such a _jerk_ sometimes Knuckles!"

He took off into the air, coming down and slapping his tails in Knuckles' face several times. This gave Sonic a moment to recover, but Knuckles had snagged one of the tails and threw the fox to the ground. Tails yipped as he bounced a few paces away. Knuckles snorted and approached Tails. Sonic tried to get back up, but his head suddenly started spinning and he found himself back on the ground again. It was all he could do to watch Knuckles advance toward Tails' eyes were sparkling with fear and sadness, but also with determination.

"What's wrong with you Knuckles?" he screeched. "Why are you suddenly attacking us?"

"I have my reasons. You should've thought twice about taking any part of my Emerald!"

"What are you talking about-AAAAAAAAHHHHHGGG!"

The scream of pain echoed throughout the ruins, Tails grabbing him arms and trying his best not to cry. Knuckles had his arms crossed in an X-formation after striking Tails. This is what caused Sonic to get back up and ram straight into the enraged echidna.

"Where do you get off, cutting up little kids like that!" he shouted. Knuckles pulled himself out of the dirt pile he had unintentionally created. The tone of Sonic's voice intimidated him, but he wasn't caving into _that_. Knuckles got back up and burrowed into the ground, but Sonic knew better than to just stand there. He ran up the side of the near-by cliff, waiting for Knuckles to resurface.

Knuckles erupted out of the ground, body turning like a screw. When he realized he _hadn't_ hit Sonic, he was spin dashed right out of the air. Unprepared for the assault, he landed face first flat on the ground-again. Sonic was so mad at this point, he crashed down onto Knuckles' back without a care.

Tails massaged his arms, also surprised there was no crimson. He could feel scars under his fur, and they didn't hurt as much as he had thought.

"It must've just been the shock…" he realized. Knuckles hadn't meant to strike him at all- it was just unfortunate that Tails ended up being an outlet for his anger. Now the echidna was feeling the wrath of an annoying hedgehog.

"Get off me!" Knuckled shouted, already feeling bad enough.

"Make me!"

"Rr-ARGH!"

He flipped Sonic onto the ground, then scrambled up and took a fighting position. Sonic struggled to gain balance, but he didn't fall either. Knuckles went in to hit him, but Sonic's off-kilter leg caught him in the jaw. Knuckles collapsed back to the ground in pain, but turned over to prevent Sonic from getting away with a sneak attack.

"If you would just surrender your Emeralds, we wouldn't be going through with this!" Knuckles exclaimed, almost pleading for the fighting to stop.

"You think I want to fight you?" Sonic gritted through his strained teeth, trying to push against Knuckles' palms without touching his shovel claws. "It's hurting me to hurt you! Sure, I don't mind a quick brawl every now and then, but if it's mindless like this then forget it!"

Knuckles let out a battle cry, partly from heaving Sonic off again, partly from his words, and started to run. Naturally, there was no outrunning Sonic, and the hyperactive hedgehog was striking every pressure point known to man at an incredible speed. Knuckles tried to hit back, but whenever he tried to hit the rapidly moving blue blur, it would just be air and a body would have gone temporarily limp. Eventually, Sonic showed some mercy and spaced away five feet from Knuckles.

"…and I thought we were friends…"

Knuckles felt a chill rocket through his entire body- his mind started to race again. Sonic had started running at him, so Knuckles just ran back at him, not wanting to sort out his thoughts again. They collided full force, both figures rocketing into the air.

"Aw, jeez!" Sonic boomed, now having a massive headache after colliding with Knuckles' skull. Sonic's head jerked violently back, causing the Chaos Emeralds in his quills to fall out and sprinkle across the ground.

"Oh no! The Chaos Emeralds!" Tails shrieked, now fully recovered from his experience. Knuckles' head bounced off the ground as Sonic's fearfully looked over his shoulder.

As if on cue, Eggman emerged from the shadows with a sadistically cocky grin.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! And they're all mine!" he cackled. He brought his hovercraft forward to collect the emeralds.

"Eggman's back!" Tails cried out again.

"Eggman! What's he doing here?" Knuckles guffawed. Eggman called forth his tractor beam and brought up both Chaos Emeralds. Tails gasped as Sonic scowled. Eggman held the Emeralds above his head like they were trophies.

"That's all there is to it. You guys are too easy!" he bragged. Sonic scowled darker- worst day ever. Getting into a fight with Knuckles, having Eggman take two more Emeralds, and now the doctor was using his catch phrases against him. Sonic and Tails scrambled to fight back while Knuckles walked up to him in a daze. He got a closer look at the Emerald and did a double take.

"That's--a Chaos Emerald!"

_"Chaos Emeralds! They had Chaos Emeralds, not Master Emeralds?"_ he questioned in his head. _"Oh no…I don't care if they have Chaos Emeralds! What have I done?"_

"Well duh! What'd you think it was?" Sonic scoffed.

"First come, first served they say…" Eggman continued to boast. He turned to Knuckles with a sly grin. "…and you served me too well for your own good. You are so easily tricked! All I did was wait for you to bring it to me!"

"What the heck is he talking about anyway?" inquired Tails as Knuckles shifted uncomfortably.

His jaw then dropped as Sonic stepped up to the plate. "You can't get away with this!" Sonic then half frowned, half smirked while he glanced at Knuckles. "Knuckles…did you let him trick you again?"

"…Like you weren't?" Knuckles muttered back, trying to hide the fact it was probably true. Sonic was still pretty peeved at the fact this was turning out to be a really bad day.

"Smooth move, Knucklehead! Don't you realize when you've been tricked?"

Sonic _had_ caught the hint that Knuckles was tricked, simply by Knuckles' reply and the fact he was hiding his face now. If Eggman wasn't still around, he'd be smirking at the total burn he gave Knuckles.

"Now, I have four lovely Chaos Emeralds!" boomed Eggman, still holding up his newly acquired ones.

"…and that's means it's four to nothing- even if we manage to get the final three, we're still outnumbered!" moaned Tails.

"Chaos!"

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles all made faces. "Aw no!"

Chaos 2 bubbled out of the ground, eyeing his previous opponents in distaste.

"Come here, my hungry pet! These are for you, my friend!"

He chucked the dark blue and green Emerald at Chaos, and once again he absorbed them. Now Chaos was even bigger! The arms remained the same, his head grew, and he now had started to gain an actual body. He lost his legs though, so now he had to float around.

"Now look what he is!" cheered the doctor.

"He transformed again!" Tails gulped.

"Man! No one ever cuts us any slack!" complained Sonic.

"No problem! I'll make him eat dirt!" Knuckles snickered, holding out his Shovel Clawed fist for emphasis. "No one makes a fool out of me!"

"I think he already has..." pouted Sonic. "Way to go, ya Knucklehead."

"Stop calling me that!"

"Why would I stop calling you something that you are?"

"Shut up! Shut up!"

"Both of you, knock it off! We've gotta stop this fast!" Tails demanded before Chaos 4 made his first strike. He grabbed Tails and brought him to a small pond full of large lily pads.

"Tails!" Sonic cried, racing after them with Knuckles trotting afterwards. Tails struggled to get out of Chaos' grasp but found himself being abosrbed, and now the young fox was trapped

"Knuckles, we've gotta help Tails!" Sonic stated, lost in a frenzy. Knuckles just jerked his head.

"I'm only fighting this thing so I don't end up tossing _you_ over my head!"

Knuckles was about to rant on until Sonic grabbed his arms.

"_You're_ going to help me because I can't fight him by myself."

Knuckles glanced down, them grinned smugly.

"Is it because you're afraid of water?"

Sonic went on the defensive. "N-No! I'd drown myself trying to save you if you were down there, so don't even get on me about that!"

Knuckles folded his arms. "So why are you so need of my skill?"

"I'm afraid I'll hurt Tails. If you accidentally do something, I can pummel you later. And besides, you owe Tails for trying to slice him in hllf!"

Knuckles sighed and shook his head. "Whatever. You stand as far away from the H2O as possible, and I'll go save your sidekick- but as soon as I do, you're taking over the fight, ya hear me?"

"Yeah, yeah, just hop to it!"

"Not even a thank you?"

"I'll thank you afterwards…"

As Sonic hopped to solid land, Knuckles proceeded to battle. Chaos swam just under the surface, sending orange shockwaves of pain at Knuckles. Knuckles skipped from lily pad to lily pad to avoid. Eventually, Chaos had to come up from air, allowing Knuckles' to shovel his claws in his weak spot. He made a brief hole in Chaos, giving Tails a minor chance at breath.

"Don't worry Tails- I got this…"

Tails responded by holding his breath again. Chaos disappeared into 4 balls of light similar to the red sparkle following Knuckles around, then returned to fish form. He felt the lily pad he was currently standing on suddenly bumped up, and Knuckles almost slipped into the water. Every one he leapt on, Chaos bumped into. He managed to throw Chaos off by going backward a pad. It made Chaos so angry he lashed out in more shockwaves, them came back up for air. Knuckles dodged and struck Chaos in one swift move. Another hole was made, and this time Tails' grabbed onto Knuckles' wrist.

"Pull Knuckles!" squeaked Tails. Knuckles tugged on his arm, only to find it wasn't coming back. He glared down at Chaos who self-repaired himself with a smirk. Knuckles barred his teeth and struck his head again, causing the hole to reopen. He tugged on Tails the second it opened, pulling the fox to safety. Chaos floated around as the four color orbs before splashing back into the water. Tails held onto Knuckles as if his life depended on it. Knuckles just knelt on the lily pad, yearning to get back to the fight.

"Knuckles…I'm sorry I called you a jerk…" Tails sniffled. Knuckles sighed and patted his head.

"Don't be. I can be a knucklehead sometimes, I'll admit-"

"Sometimes? Try all the time!" Sonic called, jumping into the battle next. Knuckles muttered something nasty under his breath while Sonic gave him a wink. He jumped around, avoiding Chaos' bumps of doom- if he was hit, he'd fall into the water for sure! The water rocked mildly, but it was still enough to slightly unsettle Sonic. Chaos appeared above water again, Sonic slicing the air and spin dashing him immediately.

"This is too easy!" Sonic called.

"He'll change up his tactics soon, just watch…" Tails trailed.

"I don't need to watch. I know from experience," murmured Knuckles, watching the show and waiting for the good part. Sonic raced over the water, not stopping to run for anything. Chaos thought he would stay on the lily pads, but he thought wrong and was nudging them with nothing on them. He looked up and saw Sonic running a Figure 8, then chuckled. He blasted upwards, right where Sonic was running, and blasted the unsuspecting hedgehog into a state of fear.

"Hey! That's was uncalled for!" he screamed. He glanced down and saw the pond of water below. This caused him to start flailing his arms and kicking his legs like mad, bracing for impact with the water. Knuckles sat forward with anticipation; Tails flew upward with determination. He grabbed Sonic before the water submerged him, then swung the hedgehog's foot into Chaos' brain. The water-monster hissed with unprepared pain and sank below again as Tails placed an almost traumatized Sonic next to Knuckles.

"You okay Sonic?" Tails asked. Sonic nodded.

"A bit shaken, but fine-"

"Nothing like a little water to scare a national hero!" Knuckles stated while rolling his eyes. Sonic laughed.

"Ah, just like old times! Right Tails?" Tails wasn't there. "Where'd he go?"

Knuckles pointed to the part of the pond with Chaos to reveal Tails flying high over the water, making Chaos frustrated that he couldn't hit him.

"Careful Tails!" Sonic exclaimed. Tails gave him a thumb's up back. Chaos shot waves of water at the two-tailed fox, but Tails avoided them with eased and snapped Chaos in the face.

"One more time Tails!" both Knuckles and Sonic cheered.

Chaos sprung ten feet away from the water with an inhumane roar, then nearly caused a tsunami when he went back down again. Tails used his tails for cover as Sonic ducked behind Knuckles. Chaos kept splashing and thrashing, making it extremely hard for Tails to see.

"I need help guys!"

He had hesitated in yelling; he wanted Sonic to be proud he finished Chaos off himself! But the water was getting to be too much, especially while he was in the air. Sonic and Knuckles exchanged a nod and rushed back into battle. They avoided more of Chaos' shockwaves and jumped up, Tails grabbing their hands.

"What's the plan?" he asked, having a bit of trouble holding up both teenagers. Sonic looked down to see Chaos thinking up a plan too. He then turned to Knuckles, who wore a face that said he'd rather be somewhere else.

"When Chaos comes up again, toss Knuckles and I at him. We'll finish him off with a triple strike!"

Tails and Knuckles' eyes bulged. "Say what!"

Sonic attempted to shrug. "With our awesome positive power we can take out the evil within Chaos!"

Knuckles blinked. "That was really cheesy, but let's just go for it."

"Good, 'cuz you guys are getting really heavy!"

The moment Chaos reappeared again, Tails threw his cargo toward the water. Sonic and Knuckles spun around each other, eventually joining hands and becoming one red and blue wrecking ball. Sonic's quill and Knuckles' claw punctured Chaos one final time, and Tails followed after with a tail-smack. Chaos roared loudly, turning into the four colored lights.

Tails grabbed Sonic and Knuckles pulled himself out of the water.

"I told ya it would work!" Sonic stated confidently. Knuckles smiled.

"Yeah, I guess you did…"

They returned back to where Eggman was, only to hear Tails cry out one last time.

"Wh-What's that?"

It was humongous, terrifying, and most importantly made of steel painted red. It cut through clouds like they weren't even there, and cast a dark shadow over the land.

"Behold, my floating Masterpiece!" Eggman chortled, motioning to the sky after a weakened Chaos returned to him. "My flying fortress…The Egg Carrier!"

"Really? I was thinking Egg Fort myself…" Tails pondered.

"But, it pales in comparison to powers of Chaos. Chaos' true power is yet to be unleashed…ha ha ha! Until we meet again, my friends!"

The Egg Carrier shot down a green tractor beam like the one Eggman had, transporting him into the colossal fortress. The three heroes could only stand and watch as it flew slowly away.

"We can't let him get away! What're we waiting for?" exclaimed Tails. "My workshop's close- we can take the Tornado to go after him!"

Sonic grinned. "Yeah! Good idea!"

"Hey Sonic." Knuckles stated, a bit quietly. "You go on ahead without me. I have some unfinished business to take care of."

Sonic just gave a thumbs up. "No problem Knuckles! We'll take care of everything here…"

Knuckles gave a nod and ran off, not looking back. Sonic cocked his head before turning to an over-anxious Tails.

"C'mon! Let's get going!"

Sonic agreed. "Let's move!"

Sonic let Tails lead the way, since he had little knowledge of the place. Tails slowed down to talk to Sonic.

"Sonic…are you mad at Knuckles?"

Sonic was silent for two whole minutes. "…no, not anymore. It's just the way he is, and there's really nothing we can do to change that. 'Sides, I think he made up for it all by helping us and letting me call him a knucklehead!"


	8. Tales of Unification and Separation

Open Your Heart

Chapter 7: Tales of Unification and Separation

Upon arriving at the workshop, Tails friskily skipped up the steps.

"Sonic, wait here for a second."

Sonic gave a grim nod, placed his hands on his hips, then started walking around the side. Hey, it _had_ been a second!

Tails had climbed into Sonic's bright red bi-plane, with his two-tailed insignia painted on the wings. The door opened out to the run-way, and Tails pulled it out of the garage. Sonic's impatient face instantly brightened up when he laid his eyes on his beautiful plane. The propeller purred perfectly, the glossy red coat shimmered in the sun, and it just looked brand new! Not to mention how advanced Tails' runway was! The road had split open, the palm trees tilted over, and a runway had risen out of the ground. Sonic was dumbstruck.

"Sonic, hop in!" Tails called, sitting proudly in the pilot's seat. Sonic stylishly jumped onto the back of the plane, since the Tornado had originally been made for Sonic only, but he kinda liked standing on the wing or in the back. It gave him a rush of adrenaline.

"Let's go!"

Tails moved the bi-plane forward, eventually reaching the end of the runway and taking off into the sky.

.............

Back in Mystic Ruins, Knuckles entered a secret cave that he had completely forgot about. He remembered reading an ancient echidnian message about a door to the past, and with the assistance of the sparkle, had found a hidden part of the ruins.

"Amazing…" Knuckles breathed. Greenery dominated the place, crawling up the side of cliffs and the temple that rested inside. It was so calm and peaceful, it even put Knuckles at ease!

_"Just what you needed!"_ the sparkle pointed out, flittering alongside the gliding echidna. He landed in the temple, circled around back, and climbed down through the hidden entrance. It didn't take him long to already feel the presence of an emerald. He looked to his right- there it was, stashed away in a tight corner. It was blocked by a couple weak boxes, which were nothing Knuckles' couldn't take care of. It was after obtaining the emerald that Knuckles realized he had gotten used to the Shovel Claw.

"Must've been that fight with Sonic…" he guessed. The sparked bobbed his head and flew upwards.

_"This way!"_

"Well no need to be pushy! I can take a quick breather every now and then!"

He glided after her and started scaling the wall. The emerald sense faintly kicked in again, and Knuckles felt himself start to move toward the right. Fire spewed out from the walls; blocks shifted and moved.

"Ancient traps aren't what they used to be…"

The emerald piece was floating in mid-air, in between two moving spike blocks, but they never came together to crush him. Knuckles hurried to snag it anyway- spikes made him uneasy, despite having two on each hand. He looked at the Emerald; it begging Knuckles to take it home.

"This is getting to be way too easy…" Knuckles noticed. He was probably going to sound like Sonic, but even _he_ needed a bit of a challenge!

The third one evaded his sight for several minutes- his sense was going bonkers but he couldn't see it! Knuckles went downwards; the feeling fainted. He went upwards; it fainted too!

"Where in the world is it!?"

He was so busy combing the place out, he accidentally let himself be poked by a spike.

"Ahh! Oh man…that was not pleasant! It hit my tail!"

Knuckles' landed on a solid surface, rubbing his injured tail. It had been straight at one point- but it bent up from sitting in front of the Master Emerald for long periods of time. He happened to look up- the sparkle was levitating by a row of boxes with a faint green glow behind them. Knuckles smacked his head.

"Leave it to a sparkle to do what I do best _better_- treasure hunting."

He sighed, soaring up to the sparkle's ledge and laying a beat down on the blocks guarding the sacred gem.

"…found it…"

_"Nice to have a little help every now and then, huh?"_ Knuckles sent a look to his glittering companion. _"Okay, okay, I'll try to let you find them all next time!"_

She then started to revolve around Knuckles, just like she had back at the Casino. Knuckles was ready this time- wherever she had planned to take him.

............

Sonic and Tails had already caught up with the Egg Carrier, blasting down any robots that came their way. Sonic couldn't believe Tails had added projectile launchers to his plane while Tails couldn't believe Sonic didn't believe he would do something like that. They circled around the flying fort several times, looking for a place to land. Since they really couldn't, they settled for blasting down every robot sent out at them. Eventually, they rounded Carrier twice and ended up just above the front of the plane.

"We did it!" cheered Tails.

"All right Tails!"

Unknown to them, Eggman had watched their every move and was inside commanding a laser.

"Steady now… FIRE!"

A super-strong neon green laser beat shot through the weak and small Tornado, blasting off an entire wing. Tails had tried to turn, but the upper part of the plane had been sacrificed.

_"If I hadn't turned, that projectory would've caused Sonic to be hit!" _Tails thought, alarmed. "_Wait…_Sonic?!"

"DAAH!"

Sonic flew off the back of the plane, grabbing onto the tail for dear life as they corkscrewed out of the sky. Three things flew through his head: one, his Tornado had been shot, two, he really hoped Tails was okay, and three, he was going to die if he hung on like this!

"Whoaaaaa!" "Aaaaaaahhhh!"

...........

The light blinded him, then dimmed down to reveal a place with a long stone bridge leading to a structure in the middle of a beautiful area. Knuckles blinked until his eyesight was back to normal, then took it all in.

"Where am I this time?" he questioned. The stone bridge seemed like the only way to go, so he sprinted down to the other side. "It's feels so…safe here. Like I know the place like the back of my hand!"

When Knuckles climbed up the stairs at the other end, he realized with a shock that the place was far more familiar than he ever could have imagined.

The Master Emerald sat full and complete on its altar, Tikal standing in front of it.

"I beg of you. Hear me now! My father is coming here soon…and I fear of what may happen. You must take everyone away from here! Oh, please!"

As Knuckles observed the place he thought he knew well, he noticed the Chaos Emeralds sitting peacefully on tall pillars, all seven circling their master. There was a small moat of water around the altar, one that Knuckles never recalled there being. More importantly, he could've sworn the water had responded to Tikal.

"…so, are you saying you can't leave this place?" Tikal's head sunk. "I understand. Let me talk to my father again. There must be a better way to do this."

Tikal turned away from the Master Emerald to two Chao that had suddenly appeared. They made frightened noise and flew around, obviously terrified.

"Don't worry my friends. I won't let you down!" she started to walk past Knuckles, disregarding his presence. "I must do something quickly!"

Knuckles' eye softened as the vision disappeared…

........

Late evening. Had it taken that long to fall out of the sky? Ow, his head was throbbing…why couldn't he see?! Did he go blind!?

"Tails? Tails!"

Sonic's senses finally came back- his head was stuck in sand, and Tails was nowhere to be found. He pushed himself out of the sand and landed back on his feet to boot. A girl was standing not too far away, watching the great Sonic the Hedgehog pull his head free of a sand trap.

"You're not who I'm looking for…" he gave a quick salute to the girl before jogging off. "Oh, I wonder if he's okay!"

**Meanwhile-**

Tails was lying unconscious somewhere in Mystic Ruins. That was his worst crash yet. He didn't land in soft sand like Sonic- he fell head first on hard, forest dirt, lying flat on his back. He had no control whatsoever…especially when he was having a subconscious flashback.

_A younger Tails, this one 4 ½ years of age, sadly walked down a path in Emerald Hill Zone. He was so lonely…not that it mattered. He was alone everyday. But today, it just seemed to hit home. As he was thinking about breaking down in tears, a sudden blue streak rushed right by him, just missing his toes. His eyes widened in wonder; his jaw dropping for the same reason. He'd never seen anything move so fast before! Tails looked forward, catch a glimpse of a hyperactive hedgehog traveling down the trail._

_"I'm gonna catch up to him!" he thought._

_Tails quickly jogged as fast as he could, already knowing he wouldn't be able to match the speed of the stranger. His tails twirled in anticipation- and like a miracle he was moving faster! Either that, or the new guy was slowing down, but he was sticking with him! The blue blur kept jogging forward, not even realizing Tails was happily striding behind him._

Tails now had a purpose in life, from that point on.

* * *

**Separation: Sonic and Tails. Unification:...supposed to be Knuckles puting together a half-finished emerald, but apparently that's a later chapter. My bad. **

**Next time: Knuckles THEN unites what pieces of the Emerald he has (ruining my well-thought out title), Tails goes on a hunt for an emerald all by himself, Sonic tries to pull himself together, and we finally get the arrival of the fourth main character! (no points for guessing whoever THAT could be...) Oh, and we get to see Big again! Yay?**


	9. All's Fair in Love and War

Open Your Heart

Chapter 8: All's Fair in Love and War

Tails' eyes fluttered open, still in the same position he had landed in. He hurt so bad…he was almost afraid he wouldn't wake up! He stayed on the ground, not daring to move quite yet.

"Hmm, wow…that dream brought back memories!" he sighed happily. "I owe so much to Sonic…"

Sonic. Sonic? Wait…he fell too! Where was he?

"Sonic? _Sonic!"_

He finally stood back up, the pain flushing easily away. Must've just been the force of the impact. Tails glanced around; all Mystic Ruins, no Sonic.

"Mmm…wonder where he went? Sure hope he's all right…" he then frowned. "The Tornado's not powerful enough. If I'm gonna get that Egg Carrier, I need to finish my prototype. But it needs a Chaos Emerald to work!"

And as of late, they were all out of Chaos Emeralds, and even if they still had one, Tails certainly wouldn't be holding it.

"Looks like I'd better find one fast!"

Tails took a few steps- pain rocketed through his legs.

"Awwww…walk it off, walk it off…ow…"

He managed to speed up to a jog, with the help of his tails.

"Man…Sonic sure loved his Tornado. It was a good plane, but it's just out-of-date now! I feel so bad about it…"

As he headed off, he broke into a grin at a great idea, and the happiness caused him to start running to find that Chaos Emerald.

. . . . . . . . . . .

When Knuckles returned back to the "real" world ( as he was starting to understand what he was seeing were visions), he happened to notice _where_ he had returned to.

"What…I'm back in front of the altar! This is beginning to blow my mind… Wait a minute! I remember! The broken pieces of the Master Emerald…I have to restore them to where they belong!"

He wasted no time in getting up the stairs and reaching the spot where he once sat hundreds of feet up in the sky. When he approached the Master Emerald, his heart sank. There it was…shattered in pieces- a state he'd never seen before, and definitely didn't want to see again unless it was an emergency. Knuckles held out all the pieces he collected so far and presented them to the Emerald. They floated in mid air, hovering about the emerald. They started to flash, and with a bright shimmer, a good 2/3 of the Master Emerald had been saved.

"Much better…"

The sigh of a more whole Master Emerald made Knuckles feel a lot better- but not completely.

"It's still incomplete!" he groaned. The top part of the Emerald was still missing.

"I need to find the remaining pieces…wherever they are…"

Suddenly, the Master Emerald projected a picture in the rock, and Knuckles had to stare closely to figure out what it was.

"It's Eggman's flying fortress! That's where the rest of the pieces must be!"

Now he was going to be grumpy that he didn't follow Sonic and Tails after all… he left his altar, promising his unguarded Emerald he'd be back (it was half useless anyway) until he remembered one important factor.

"I don't know where that ship is…"

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Back in Station Square, a familiar pink hedgehog was walking down the street carrying groceries. Okay, maybe she wouldn't be all that familiar to Sonic- after all, she had grown up too! The girl had seen Sonic more often than Knuckles (definitely), but the time distances became so far apart, it had only been two years since she'd seen Sonic. Instead of over-sized purple sneakers, a green and orange dress, and a hand-me down hammer, Amy Rose now donned a red and white dress, red and white boots, and had a red and yellow Piko-Piko hammer stuffed away. Like Sonic, her quills and bangs had went from short and stiff to longer and flexible, but Amy's were combed down into a comfortable hair-style, held together by a red headband.

She stopped in the middle of the sidewalk to sigh. "Gee, I'm bored. Every day's the same old thing. Same place, different day. I miss the good old days. Hanging out with my hero, Sonic…"

She trailed off dreamily while pulling an apple out of her bag. It was true- 8 year old Amy was saved by 10-year old Sonic. Now she was 12 (she hadn't had her birthday yet, like Tails), nearing the fifth anniversary of when they met.

"Chasing bad guys, and blowing them away, ha ha!"

Her main memory of Sonic though was him carrying her away from the destruction Metal Sonic had caused after he had kidnapped her.

"…but now he's gone, and there's nothing left to do…but shop 'til I drop." Shopping was supposed to be fun for girls, but Amy was becoming awfully sick of it all. "There was always something fun to do with Sonic around. I really miss him."

She closed her eyes for a brief moment, but shrieked when she reopened them. The golden sun was just setting- how did it suddenly get so dark?

"Hey, what's going on here? Is there an eclipse today or what? Nobody forecasted a storm or anything…"

Amy looked up into the sky, only to have her mouth open as wide as possible and drop her bag full of food.

The Egg Carrier hovered over the entire city, blackening everything out.

"Eggman? Can it be?" Amy was so busy staring at the massive machine overhead, she didn't notice the little bird suddenly flying into her face. "Watch it, watch it! Ow, you should watch where you're going, buddy?"

As Amy rubbed her head, she regretted all words when she saw the poor little bird sprawled out on the ground.

"Hey…are you all right? You look kinda hurt…"

The bird didn't move. A crash echoed behind them, emitting form a bulky green robot. Amy picked the bird up and held it defensively while the robot advanced to them. She jumped out of the way, but it turned around and headed for her once more.

"Yikes! You almost ran me over, creep!" Amy shouted, now starting to run. "Let's get out of here!"

She quickly ran into a restaurant, hoping the robot wouldn't spot her. It glanced through the window, saw nothing, and continued on. Amy stood as close to the door as she could, but still within eyesight of the window. She saw the robot finally hover off.

"That was one of Eggman's robots, huh? He must've captured you and you somehow got away, right?" the bird feebly nodded. "Don't worry- I'll protect you! I'll do my best to keep us both from harm. I'll stand by you all the way!"

Amy left the diner now that the coast was clear. She looked around, only to spotter her life's treasure walking down the street: Sonic. She let go of the bird to cover her gasp.

"Oh, Sonic…my hero!" she gushed. The bird just tweeted beside her. "_Sonic!_ Sonic, wait up!"

Sonic stopped and twirled around, slightly peeved that someone was distracting him from find Tails, but extremely surprised to see his old friend Amy suddenly break on her heels.

"Long time no see!" Amy squealed excitedly. Sonic gulped; he was so terrified, he felt his quills stand straight out! He backed away slowly with a nervous grin- he certainly remembered the last time he saw her…

"Ah, A-Amy?"

Amy raised an eyebrow. "What's your problem?"

Sonic racked his brain for an answer- she was way too close for comfort- but Amy filled the silence.

"Whatever. Listen, this birdie seems to be in trouble. I think you should be it's body guard for awhile!"

_"This girl shows up out of nowhere and asks me to babysit a bird!"_

"WHAT!" Sonic's voice accidentally went up a few pitches. "You **must** be kidding!"

"Even if you don't, we're just gonna tag along anyway!"

"No way! Nuh uh!"

Sonic sprinted around the corner, Amy determinedly chasing after him.

"Come on! Don't run away! Ooooh…"

So much for her hero!

Oh well- she still loved him anyway.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Tails hadn't even looked for 15 minutes, and he was already frustrated.

"Oh, this is impossible without Sonic…"

_"You must find the Chaos Emerald, but searching in the jungle is very difficult."_

Tails' ears shifted. The voice! It was back! Still, no _owner_ of the voice, but it was still back! The only clue was a trail of sparkles that went over his head…

"Maybe I'll find out sooner than I know! Gotta keep searching…can't let Sonic down…"

He noticed the sparkle trail lead into a mine, so he hopped in a mine cart and rode down the track. The little trail of twinkle was the only thing keeping him devoted; that, and the fact he would be able to help Sonic if he found an emerald. When the cart stopped, he climbed out and entered the other side of Mystic Ruins. What he saw made him gasp.

"Wow! This place looks amazing!"

He was in the very same spot Knuckles had went to right after they split.

"It's so vast…and jungly…and ancient! It's like a lost world!"

Tails excitedly took off into the unknown. Perhaps a Chaos Emerald ended up here! It was hard to see though- the night sky in this part of the ruins brought smoky clouds, blocking out the last of the sun's rays. He eventually got so deep into the jungle-and so lost- that he accidentally located something red and shiny innocently lying on the ground.

"Wow! There's a Chaos Emerald!"

Not believing his luck, he strolled up to go get it as a frog suddenly hopped up and grabbed the crystal. Tails' enthusiasm instantly flattened. A frog just stole his Chaos Emerald!

"Hey! Wait up! Stoooooooooop!"

Tails raced after the frog (it was pretty fast for leaping with a small shiny rock) and ended up following it into a cavern of some sort.

"Oh, I shouldn't have thought it'd be that easy…"

The second he found himself on the other side of the cavern, Tails figured out he had entered Sand Hill…and he was on a snowboard!

"Curse irony!"

The surprise of actually being on the board messed up his handling of control. The poor fox had close shaves with bars of arches sticking up out of the ground. At least he wasn't being chased by an avalanche this time! Tails hit a Boost Pad- oh great, more uncontrollable speed! He hit a bump and flew into the air, narrowly missing a rock formation up above.

"Oh, how I wish Sonic were here…"

Ruins of very tall columns stuck out of the ground, making Tails extremely nervous when he'd fly right next to one. What terrified him the most was "pillar snakes", as he dubbed them, randomly shooting out of the sand and crashing down on his other side.

_"Don't be intimidated. Think of your friend Sonic…"_

Tails didn't bother looking for the voice- it wouldn't be there. Unknown to him, he was right, and the sparkle had teleported away for the moment. Still, the words gave him encouragement, and Tails suddenly started shredding like he had done it yesterday- it was actually this morning, but this time he added more skill than last time.

"This one's for you, Sonic!"

Tails rode over a ramp, pulling off a slightly difficult trick and yelling "Whoo!" he landed hard back in the sand, swerving through arches with easy. He was going by WWSD- What Would Sonic Do? Sonic would shred the hill until it was nothing, that's what! Now, Tails was boarding like an expert! Once he successfully reached the bottom, he couldn't help but jump up and cheer "YEAH!" at the top of his lungs.

"Now, what did I come here for? Oh right! That frog!"

Lucky for him, it was sitting at the bottom on the hill, and Tails grabbed it before it got away.

"Gotcha!"

Before he could even get the Chaos Emerald from the frog, the sparkle returned and showed itself to Tails.

_"Hi!"_

"Y-You're the voice!"

_"Yes…now, there's something I'm going to show you, okay? Don't be scared…"_

Tails froze. "Should I?"

_"No, but you'll be in a different place for a moment. Just remain calm, and I'll take you back when it's over…"_

Tails didn't have a say in anything- the spirit just circled around him, and the next thing he knew he couldn't see- and apparently the frog was coming with him! When sight returned, the frog had mysteriously disappeared after all, and he certainly wasn't in the desert anymore.

"I wonder where I am…"

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Wait up Sonic!" Amy all but shouted. Sonic gave up running out of pity. She hadn't "attacked" him yet, and she had just came up for help- why make her upset? He stopped to wait. Big mistake, as she came up complaining.

"No fair! I can't run as fast as you!"

Sonic smirked. "They don't call me the fastest thing alive for nothin' ya know!"

Amy rolled her eyes; Sonic stopped smiling and tapped his foot in deep thought. These thoughts were interrupted by a shriek from Amy.

"Aah, look! Eggman's robot is on the loose!"

Sonic struck a fighting pose and smirked. "No problem! He's just a hunk of cheesy hardware! I'll handle that bag of bolts!"

_"Whoa!"_

Sonic sweat dropped. "Now what's wrong?"

She was staring dreamily at the entrance to Twinkle Park.

"Huh?"

"Look here! It says cute couples get in free!" Amy twirled around with all too-happy grin. "What're we waiting for?"

She laughed and ran straight in at a speed that would make Sonic cry- which it almost did.

"Amy! Wai-wai-wai-_wait_!" she was already gone. Sonic sighed and threw his hands up. "I give up! That girl is such a pain…She's so weird!"

He trudged hesitantly after Amy, glancing down at the robot on the other end of the sidewalk. He'd rather be engaged in a duel with that robot than follow Amy into a romantic park as her "cute date". Ugh.

"Don't be so negative like that Sonic! We're in here to get away from that robot!" Amy exclaimed.

"You know I could've happily trashed that thing…" Sonic muttered back.

"Look on the bright side!" she cheered and grabbed his hand. "We can get through this park together!"

Sonic groaned. "Listen Amy…not that it's _not_ cool seeing you again and everything, but I don't think you're approaching it right and-"

Amy furiously turned around and tapped her foot. "What are you trying to get at?"

Sonic pointed forward. "There's a capsule in there that I've gotta destroy, and I need to save a whole bunch of animals. See ya-"

He bolted off, not daring to look back, Amy taking in his words before exploding. "SONIC! Get back here! How could you **possibly** know a thing like that! ? Don't you dare leave me!"

"Want me so bad? Ya gotta catch me!" Sonic shouted over his shoulder. Amy growled and pulled out her hammer.

"I'll catch ya all right…YOU WON'T LOSE ME THAT EASILY!"


	10. Divided We Stand

Open Your Heart

Chapter 9: Divided We Stand

"Outta my way! I've gotta find Sonic!" Amy shouted, swinging her hammer into anything that got in her way. They started out together, and Sonic was even nice enough to let her keep up, but she had taken a wrong turn in the beautiful park and was lost from her crush. Birdie tweeted, and Amy patted its head.

"We'll be fine- as long as we don't meet up with that robot again…" she assured. Amy jumped into the air, flipping as she did so. Twinkle Park was a huge and incredible place, and if she hadn't lost Sonic, she'd be gazing in awe at that very moment.

"The _one_ time-" bashed a robot. "-I find-" a box. "-_something_ to do-" collected a ring. "-with _Sonic especially_-" Amy growled. "-**IT GOES WRONG**!"

She ran into a hallway, a red carpet rolled across it, racing away from all her troubles. A spiked obstacle attempted to crush her, but she avoided it and kept on running. Amy reached the end of the hall and entered a room with a mirror on each side, reflecting the reflection of the reflection and so and so forth. It was a creepy room…Amy started running faster. A sudden pound in the ground caused Amy to jump with a 360 spin- and to spot the robot right on her heels.

She screamed, "Aw no! Where's Sonic when you need him?"

. . . . . . . . . . . .

"Yee-HAW! Take that! Whoo-hoo!"

Sonic cheered, turning the steering wheel of his bumper car based vehicle to the right, making a sharp turn. Twinkle Park rocked! He let loose and decide to have some fun- but only because he thought Amy was still following him.

"Man! The time it must've took to get this place awesome like this is amazing!"

The ceiling was black like a night sky and had stars and other space themed objects hovering around. Sonic himself was currently on a track, made just for the bumper car he happened to pick up.

"Free style jump!"

Sonic flew over a gap, did an impressive trick, and just missed the edge of the next section of track. He turned into an area with asteroids floating about- the best part, they were so real-like, Sonic could feel them. As he was swerving about to avoid them, another car suddenly rammed his side, making him briefly lose control. It was a silver one, and Sonic was almost surprised not to see Amy in it. He would've turned around to check, but he had to keep his eye on the road- and the jerk who dared to side-end him (if that was possible). His mind was taken off the latter as Sonic went over a Boost Pad, riding a double loop in the track.

"Now-this-is-a-ride!" he tried to say, but the speed and force were messing up his cheeks. "I-sure-hope-Amy's-enjoying-it as-much-as-I-am!"

. . . . . . . . . . .

"I am so not enjoying this!" Amy yelled. She had leapt over spikes, been attacked by random "jello-bots", nearly crushed by spike balls and confused by mirrors, and the robot was nearing her with each passing second! Birdie had gotten scared and retreated to the safety of Amy's arms.

"I won't let any bad happen to you, unless its happening to me to and I'll go down with you!"

Amy rolled out of the way of a metal fist and kept on running. This certainly was a twist in her ordinary day… She entered another echoing hallway, hearing the echoes of the robot pounding on the door. Amy tightened the grip on the bird.

"We've gotta outrun him!"

As soon as she let out those words, the robot crashed down behind her. Oh, she just couldn't win! Amy saw the floor suddenly cave in. She jumped over the trap while her pursuer was caught behind it. Seizing the chance, Amy dashed up the trap-filled stairs and took off outside. To her horror, Eggman's robot once again crashed down out of nowhere from the sky.

"Does this thing have teleportation or what! ?"

Next thing she knew, it was in front of her!

"Leave me alone!"

She swung her hammer across its "face", leaving it too stunned to do anything while she rushed by. Oh great- she was coming to the end of the park, a dead end. Lucky for her, there a was a means of escape.

A balloon.

The metal monster beeped loudly, gaining speed in chasing Amy. Amy grabbed the handle of the balloon and floated away as the robot shot a yellow laser at where she once stood.

"Yay! I'm free!"

Out of anger, the robot lashed out a fist, only to have it hit the fence and fly back at him, hitting him in the process. Amy couldn't help but laugh as the balloon took her to the exit.

"Whew! I'm glad we finally lost that robot…we've really lost Sonic, didn't we?"

She sighed, heading down the Station Square until a dark shadow passed over her. Daring to turn around, there was that blasted robot again.

"AAAHH!"

Amy started to run again, but only found herself squished in its clutches.

"Hey, watch it, bolt brain! Let us go!"

. . . . . . . . . . . .

It had been jump after jump, fun after fun for Sonic, and he still hadn't noticed Amy not behind him. His little bumper car had stopped…only for him to find a rollercoaster car instead! Eagerly, he jumped into it, and it instantly began with a plunge!

"This is the best place ever!"

The track wound around castle roofs and weaved through the castle towers themselves. Sonic had his hands up and cheering the entire ride. That ride came to an end also, and Sonic found himself in yet another area.

"I'm sorry I didn't agree to come with Amy right off the bat!"

After that, he had claimed a few crowns, ran right over a swimming pool, became a living bowling ball, rode around on a merry go round, and bypassed the area Amy had finished her time there at. He was now currently sitting in the top tower of the castle, sitting on the broken capsule he had recalled before he had even entered, staring at the vast "sky". It was actually nice- a quick, fun break in his adventure. It took his mind away from all the troubles going on- Eggman's fortress, Tails being off somewhere far, Knuckles' messed up moments, Amy being gone- wait, what! ?

"Amy never caught up with me…otherwise she'd be here now!"

Sonic jumped off the capsule and ran frantically out of the exit.

"Oh shoot! I've lost Amy! I bet that robot hauled butt after her! I'd better catch her before it does!"

He exited the park pronto, finding that the sun had finally set after all. How long had it been since he seen Chaos the very first time? 2 nights? Maybe 3? Aw well- that wasn't what he was focusing on right now. Sonic raced on.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

"The servers are the seven Chaos Emeralds…" Tikal recited to herself sadly. Tails, who had toured the strange area twice, (and had gone so far to discover it was Angel Island with an unsheltered Master Emerald!) heard her chanting and watched from a good distance away. He didn't notice the light smile she had on when she noticed him standing. "Hello there, friend. How are you?" She politely put her hands behind her back and continued to smile sweetly.

"Um, what were you saying before?" Tails abruptly asked, unintentionally disregarding her greeting. It had him very interested.

"It's something my grandmother taught me. I am never to forget it. It goes like this: _The servers are the seven Chaos…Chaos is power…power enriched by the heart…the controller is the one who unifies the Chaos._ But I'm still not sure what it means. Though the number 7- it's the same number of Emeralds there are."

"Emeralds?"

Tikal cocked her head. "Forgive me, but I don't think we've ever met before. I'm Tikal…and you are?"

Just as Tails opened his mouth to answer, the blinding light returned and brought him back to reality. He was still in Mystic Ruins, and he was still holding the frog. It was now pure nighttime- the sky was a navy blue, and light stars twinkled the sky. Before Tails even had a chance to take in what he had learned-or who he had met- a large purple cat was frantically running at him.

"Oh no, he's got my little buddy!" Big cried. He was so excited, he ended up tripping and made Tails jump into the air.

"Yikes!"

Tails gulped and took a couple steps back.

"Glad I found you." The frog suddenly jumped out of his hands and toward the mysterious feline. He bounced onto his back, then ended up hopping away from both of them. Big sprang back up and gave chase once more.

"Awwww…now what am I gonna do? Wait for me!"

Big had been chasing Froggy from Mystic Ruins to Station Square and back again- and it had taken him a couple days to keep up! Big just couldn't win…

Tails just blinked. "Weird. Now where was I? Oh yeah, the Chaos Emerald- perfect!"

He grinned and pulled out the red Emerald he managed to receive.

"This'll get my Tornado 2 up and rarin' to go!"

Tails happily ran off. He couldn't wait to see the look on Sonic's face when he pulled up with a plane he named after the original! His workshop was conveniently up a hill not to far away, and he dramatically stood at the front of it. Perhaps it was fate he landed in Mystic Ruins separated by Sonic!

Tails took a deep breath. "The time has come at last! This new plane should work a lot better. I've ironed out most of the problems, so, here it goes! Emerald, do your stuff!"

He began to enter, shiny red gem held outstretched in his hand. "Ready Sonic? Here I come!"

This plane was stored deep in the basement, but no where near close to neglected. It had been the only thing Tails had slaved over for weeks! Now was the time to test it…if all failed, there was no hope of getting onto the Egg Carrier. But Tails wasn't going to think negative anymore- that wasn't something Sonic would do, after all.

"Tornado 2: Clear for take off! Away we go!"

The new plane blasted forward into the night, ready for anything. Tails had a good feeling about it, and whenever he had a good feeling, he was probably right.


	11. A Series of Unfortunate Events

Open Your Heart

Chapter 10: A Series of Unfortunate Events

"I'm coming Amy…" Sonic muttered under his breath, racing down a highway. It was as bright, twisty, and awesome as Twinkle Park, but now there were things that needed to be done. He had completely dropped all thoughts of Tails at the moment and was flying on building walls, racing down a high-way, and in deep search of Amy. He went as far as to hitch a ride on a helicopter.

"Maybe this was a bit extreme…" he commented, looking down at the bright city below with wide eyes.

The helicopter didn't go far when it dropped Sonic off, and the Blue Blur was off once again. He ran into a rocket that blasted him to an even higher part of the hallway and continued to sprint. The road took a twisting turn, which Sonic bolted through with easy. If he wasn't on a daring rescue mission, he'd go back and run this street for a long time!

"Whuh-oh! Looks like a dead-end!" he exclaimed, making a sharp turn away from the sudden wall. Sonic kept rushing in the direction he started heading, only to brake to a violent stop in a glass balcony. The hedgehog froze at the close shave, and hardly had time to check how high he was when the glass broke and he started to free-fall.

"I'm certainly not dying today!" Sonic yelped, quickly making contact with the skyscraper and running toward the ground at an incredible speed. He crashed through more glass balconies, blocking his face and cringing for every one. While doing so, he accidentally tripped and lost his footing.

"ugh…"

His body went limp as he stumbled through one more barrier of glass, landing inside the entry to the building.

"…Yeah…not bad…" he sighed, planning on waiting a few moments before getting up again.

. . . . . . .

"All systems, full power!" Eggman demanded back inside the Egg Carrier. The green lights flickered on, and Eggman looked up into a container. "Look at me! I'm you're brilliant creator, Dr. Robotnik! You're the second, of my E-100 model machines…"

The red and black robot standing inside scanned his surroundings as Eggman talked.

"E-102, Codenamed…Gamma."

"Gamma." the robot repeated. Eggman walk closer to it.

"That's right. You will now only obey me!"

He twirled around and walked off, motioned for Gamma to follow. The robot obeyed his orders and trudged after.

"The shooting range is through this door…" Eggman trailed, motioning to said door. "Your big brother, E-101 Beta is there practicing. Enter Gamma. You're not as advanced as Beta, but you'll do fine…"

Gamma attempted to nod, stomping through the doorway. His sight-sensors would've blinked at all the Tails and Knuckles dolls scattered around. Eggman had told him to start shooting, so he fired his laser, bullets, missiles, and other projectiles at the stuffed animals. There were more of Knuckles than there were Tails, and surprisingly there were no Sonic ones…

"Mind trying to compute…"

The hall was scattered with the "targets" and Gamma had no choice but to blow up each and every one. When he reached a strange room, he found the Sonic dolls- traveling faster on a moving pole. Gamma took precise precision before shooting the first Sonic right between the eyes. The doll stayed intact, and Gamma found himself wanting to blast the entire doll to pieces. No matter how many times he zapped the doll, only small parts would fall. An arm, a leg, a quill, but the Sonic still kept going and soon disappeared out of Gamma's range.

"Must be how Master feels…"

He hung his head in despair at letting the hedgehog get away as Eggman returned, clapping his hands.

"Good job, Gamma. I didn't think you had what it takes!" the doctor gave a wild smirk. "Okay then Gamma. Here's your test. If you want to stay on board, you must be able to pass it. So pay attention to what I say! The almighty Egg Carrier is a flying fortress that needs a good crew. Come forth, Beta!"

A black and white robot came down from the ceiling, resembling Gamma in many ways.

"I'd like you to meet your older brother, E-101. Just call him Beta. I'm pitting the two of you against each other, and the winner serves on my ship. I put my bets on Beta, but I owe you at least a fair chance…"

Eggman backed away to a safe distance to watch as Beta did some fancy fighting poses. He began the battle with a unexpected missile, but Gamma rolled out of the way and countered with a mighty blow to Beta's center. Beta reeled back in surprise, gave a glance to his brother, and started to fly in the air. Gamma simply avoided him and his missiles when he returned to the ground and ended up striking Beta again. Just like that, the robot sparked and crumbled at Gamma's feet.

"Oh ho ho! You surprised me Gamma…" Eggman admitted as Beta stood back up again, still shocking with pain. "I had a funny feeling there was more to you that meets the eye. I hereby grant Gamma permission to serve onboard the Egg Carrier."

Beta stomped one step forward in protest. Eggman raised an eyebrow.

"So you want to come along with us eh? Okay, okay…we can always use a spare set of parts, I guess. You have special permission."

Eggman spun and left, leave the "brothers" curiously standing next to each other.

Later, the doctor entered a large room, and stood at a control panel in the center. His plan was flowing flawlessly, and nothing was going to stop him now. He instantly grinned and prepared the procedure. Four robots awaited orders, a purple, blue, and orange one, and then Gamma.

"Aha, testing 1, 2, 3...you, the Elite Carrier Crew are here today to hear a very special announcement. Behold! It's a tailed frog! Very unique." A picture of Froggy appeared on the screen behind him, all robots scanning the picture. "This frog is absolutely vital to my plans. I command you to find this frog immediately! You hear me? I don't care what it takes to get it! Just bring it to me!"

All robot signaled with a positive response.

"We haven't got time to waste, so come to attention!"

The elite group of robots turned heel and marched out.

. . . . .

"Amy? Oh man, where can she be?" Sonic mused to himself, now in a deeper part of Station Square.

"Sonic, help!"

Sonic looked up to see his fears realized: Amy had been captured by Zero and was being carried away just above his head. His eyes tensed in determination.

"I'll cut him off at the Mystic Ruins!"

He started jogging off, plotting to not waste anytime.

_"You have to find Amy…"_

Sonic nodded- the voice was never wrong before. Little did he know he wasn't the only one to not receive a vision from this sparkle…

. . . . . . .

Big was strolling in Mystic Ruins, having found and caught Froggy successfully. The care-free cat was planning on simply going back to his pond to continue his normal life, until he realized he was being pursued. Gamma rushed by him, did a small hop, and snatched Froggy right out of Big's arms. He stopped when he noticed the lightened load.

"Frog capture complete."

"Froggy?" Big turned around to see the robot clutching his dear friend. "Uh oh…"

Gamma beeped and hurried off, causing Big to freak out.

"No! Hold on there! Come back, please!" Big ran as fast as he could after him. "Give me my friend back! I'm beggin' ya, _please!"_

. . . . . . .

While this was happening, the Egg Carrier emerged out of its secret hiding spot in the Lost World. The sparkle happened to be floating there and quickly floated off to find Knuckles. However, she saw Gamma with Froggy on her way there. Knowing this was a bad sign, she stopped Gamma in his tracks and twirled around him, preparing to give him a vision.

_"What you're doing…this is wrong…"_

Gamma's sensors briefly went offline as he was shown a time in the past when things weren't as easy as they were for him now. The E-101 robot found himself still in Mystic Ruins, but strangely without Froggy, just like Tails.

"Must determine location."

If he was anyone else, it would've been easy to see that he was in front of the long lost bridge that led to Angel Island and the Master Emerald.

"Accessing data…no data found. Location unknown. This presents a problem."

His inner instinct told him to head for the peculiar area, where Chaos were singing. The sound, he deduced, was happy, but not so pleasant to other life forms. As he got closer, Gamma realized they were singing around water, but why?

"No! Don't go any closer!" Tikal called, running for Gamma. Gamma turned, and the female echidna instantly looked sheepish. "I'm sorry. I see you must not be one of them, huh?"

She softly stepped next to Gamma, who was trying to compute the situation.

"Did you notice the presence guarding these children? He is a very loving and gentle creature…"

Presence? Loving? Gentle? Creature? Gamma didn't detect anything of those sorts.

"These little creatures are too vulnerable without its protection. This protection allows them to keep singing in peace. Even I was surprised the first time I saw him. Now my father is trying to take their sacred home. It seems his heart has closed off to us all…My true hope is that some day, we'll understand each other."

_Open your heart, and you will see…_

Gamma tried to understand as the vision faded to white…

. . . . .

Knuckles was still hunting for the ship when Gamma returned, falling fashionably out of the sky. He was back in the present, but in the same spot as he was put in his vision.

"Hey! Isn't that one of Eggman's robots?" Knuckles asked, hunting around the nearby area. "I know…I'll follow it back to Eggman's base!"

What luck!

"Here I come, Eggman!"

Knuckles chased it toward the right, where it had stalked off. Instead of finding the robot, he just found the sparkle floating worriedly at the train station. She had returned from the vision too, and had felt that Knuckles would be heading this way soon and planned on stooping him in case he wanted to return to Station Square.

_"A huge building has just appeared deep in the jungle…"_ she explained. Knuckles raised an eye ridge.

"A building? Buildings don't just appear!"

Nevertheless, he followed his companion's advice and went in the direction she was motioning to. She secretly hoped Knuckles would run into tails, therefore neither would have to do their jobs alone…but the likeliness of that wasn't very high. Knuckles headed into the Lost World area, and sure enough- a brand new building had arrived right behind the temple, lights built in and everything.

"What in the world…"

He glided downwards until he spotted the mysterious robot again.

"How did it beat me here?"

_"Quiet Knuckles…"_

"Sorry."

The android entered an odd door of some sort, prompting Knuckles to do the same.

"Hmm, just what I thought!" Knuckles exclaimed just before entering. The sparkle floated back to stay behind. "Time to make a house call!"

A loud kaboom echoed throughout the ruins. The Egg Carrier took off from where it had landed, obviously making itself noticed. Knuckles smirked, as he had climbed aboard before it had taken off- and little did he know, Big had snuck onto the large fortress also. He could sense the emeralds deep within the structure.

"Now we'll see who's so easily tricked…"


	12. Adventures Upon the Egg Carrier

Open Your Heart

Chapter 11: Adventures Upon the Egg Carrier

"Let me go, you hunk of junk! I mean it!" Amy cried, being carried like a doll by Zero in Mystic Ruins.

"Hey there, bolt brain! You'd better give Amy to me or I'll squash ya!" Sonic shouted, already having beaten the robot there. Fastest way by train...ha, the very thought still cracked him up! He was perched on the top of the train station, awaiting their arrival after a quick run from Station Square. He jumped off and landed in front of Zero, not noticing the sparkle floating off to the side. However, it suddenly got dark, and Zero didn't do anything.

"Hey! What's happening here?"

The Egg Carrier was floating overhead, preparing to take Zero back. The green beam shot out and zapped Zero, Amy, and Birdie before Sonic could even do anything about it.

"Stop!"

"Sonic! Help me!" Amy's voice echoed against the metallic walls.

Sonic could only stare angrily into the sky. "Shoot I've lost her again!"

. . . . . . . .

The Egg Carrier changed its course and flew over the mountain. The only way to get catch up- go up that mountain. Sonic spotted the cave entrance and ran through.

"This frog's the one we want."

"No, here's the real one."

"My frog is the right one!"

Gamma said nothing as he walked in, planning not to make a comment on his brothers. He just silently glided up and held out his frog just like them. Eggman returned, an indescribable look on his face. He took one look at Gamma's three younger brothers' frogs and shook his fists.

"Argh! Dummies, dummies, dummies! None of you got the right one! We must find the frog with Chaos' tail!"

Gamma held out Froggy even farther, because he definitely had a tail.

"That frog has also swallowed a Chaos Emerald!"

He finally caught sight of Gamma's frog.

"Huh? There it is! Right there! I'm proud of you Gamma. I knew you'd be of use to me!" he glared at his other creations. "All you worthless hunks of junk be gone!"

They were instantly suck up by green beams of light, E-103 sending a final, fearful stare to Gamma before departing. Gamma just looked on as Eggman informed him that he would get a new assignment. "This one's easy. Go to the room through that last door. Once there, you'll find a girl and a bird. Just get me that bird. Now, go!"

Eggman left him to his mission while walking proudly off, Froggy tucked neatly under his arm. Gamma heard a whirling sound through the first door and would've raised an eyebrow.

"Is this the one?"

The second he entered, he regretted it.

Pieces of Beta were scattered across the floor, a sight that made Gamma shudder in fear. Right in front of him was a large drilling machine that was picking Beta apart piece by piece, the poor bot in the center of the tragedy. What was left of Beta's head…his inactivated orange eyes…they were expressing sadness, Gamma could tell.

"Beta?" Gamma questioned in one smooth sound. He backed away, but still couldn't take his eyes off his brother. "…This is the wrong room."

Finally, he came to his senses and left immediately.

. . . . . . . . .

The Egg Carrier was flying slowly by Red Mountain, and Sonic wasn't about to let it get away so easily. He grabbed the near-by rocket and glared at the ship.

"I'm coming for ya, Eggman!" he stated before blasting ten feet high. Sonic landed on the ledge and rounded a bend of the mountain, dodging spike balls aiming to smash him. He jerked around a rock and dashed over a man-made bridge heading up for tourists. Sonic glanced up into the sky, and for the first time since before Twinkle Park, he sighed.

"Man, this would be a great time for Tails to race me…"

He just shook his head, bouncing on a spring and taking off over a wooden bridge. Just when he thought the path was straight forward, Sonic found himself flying into a spring and soaring over a large gap. He curled up and spin dashed onto the nearest slab of rock. Breaking and landing without missing a beat, Sonic bounced back up and grabbed onto a zip line, taking him downward. The hedgehog went through tunnels, over wind power machines, and made his way around Red Mountain. The entire time, he never stopped thinking about Tails.

_"What if the crash finally did him in?"_ The dark thought crossed his mind. Sonic clenched his teeth, trying to frighten off the dreaded idea. "No, I know he made it! Just because I haven't seen him doesn't mean anything bad happened to him. Huh, maybe he even found a Chaos Emerald!"

_"But I wasn't there to save him this time…"_

"ARGH!"

His absent-minded thinking left him with a harsh burn on his arm after running straight through a line of fire. Sonic tumbled to the ground, knowing that clutching the wound would make it hurt even worse. Now that he was paying more intent attention to his surroundings, he noticed fire was spewing out of rocks all over the place.

"I'd better be extra careful…"

Curse him for worrying about Tails, but he couldn't help it. Other people always came before him in Sonic's book, but getting a burn for not paying attention really didn't fit into that. With his good arm, he reached to grab hold of another rocket that propelled him upwards. The moment he made contact with ground, a missile struck the ground where Sonic one stood. The nimble hedgehog flipped out of the way and noticed the Badniks across the ravine. He had an idea.

"Action Chain!"

Like a cannonball he cut through the air, landing blows on the machine and making his way over the gap. Once on the other side, he fought his way up the side of a cliff and rushed over a crumbling bridge. After that, he just ran around the mountain via a metal path. It ended at another rocket, where Sonic cautiously tested his arm, and held on tight. It blasted into the air for a third time, sending Sonic near the top of the mountain where a pool of lava sat.

"Wasn't expecting that…" he commented while rushing by. Sonic grabbed hold of another zip line, wind blasting into his face. "Woo-hoo!" he shouted over the whipping roar of the wind. Before he knew it, Sonic had plummeted back to the base of the mountain, and fallen into a hole that went even deeper. He glanced up and whistled.

"Some fall…"

He rolled up into his ball form a flew off in a blue blur, rocketing through the tunnel. He almost overshot the path into lava, but changed course at the last second and bounded over the flaming lake via rock slabs in the molten rock.

"There must be a way out of here…" Sonic pondered after dancing over tumbling bits of stone. He kept zooming forward until he entered a cavern with a fourth rocket. This one took off much more rapidly than the others, and Sonic almost lost his grip. He shot through a tunnel that led back outside- in a up direction- and had to let go three second before the rocket exploded like a firework. Sonic tumbled back toward the ground, doing a flip to get out of the way of falling back into the hole. When he was stable once more, he saw a capsule and instantly went to smash it.

"Yeah!" He went to cheer, until he saw the Egg Carrier finish passing the mountain. "_Shoot!_ Now how am I supposed to get up there?"

"There you are, dead ahead…the Egg Carrier!" Tails grunted as he approached Red Mountain. The Egg Carrier was flying past it, and Tails had full plans to intercept it…until he saw Sonic standing on the very top of the mountain staring frustratedly at the flying fortress. "There's Sonic!"

Sonic heard the sound of a plane, and for a split second he thought his precious Tornado had returned. To his very shock, the new bi-plane was in the shape of the Tornado, but was blue and much more up-to-date. Sonic ignored the plane factor as he saw who was driving it.

"Hey Sonic!" Tails called casually.

"_Tails!_ I'm glad you're okay! Way to go!"

He rushed for the edge of the mountain, simultaneously jumping off. Tails swooped down and picked up Sonic, now giving him access to Eggman. Sonic inspected the plane, and finally accepted the fact his cherry-red Tornado had flown its last flight.

"This plane is actually pretty cool Tails! I especially like the color!" Sonic admitted at last. Tails beamed. "Now whaddya say we nail those guys! Ready to roll, champ?"

"Roger that-You got it! Hang on!"

Tails increased the plane's speed, and the friends took off like they were never even separated.

. . . . . .

Now that Gamma had entered the correct door, he searched around for Amy and Birdie's cell. She sat sadly in the center of the cold cage, hanging on tightly to Birdie.

"Now, now…calm down." Amy soothed, trying to assure the bird while petting its head.

When Gamma stopped in front of the cell, she instantly got angry.

"Go away! What do you want?" she snapped. Gamma's voice remained level and emotionless.

"Give me the bird. Hand it over."

Any gasped and pulled Birdie farther away from Gamma. "No way!"

"Resistance is futile. Quietly hand me the bird."

"I said no-never!"

"Why not?"

"I don't need to tell you anything! It's none of your business 'why not'!" She stood up and boldly batted back, "I wanna know why you want it!"

"Does not compute. Data unavailable."

Amy's face twisted into one of confusion. "You don't even know? I bet you'd be mean to him, you big bully! You might hurt us both!" She then took a second to think. "Please, Mr. Robot…why not help us out? Don't you know how bad I feel?"

She walked closer to Gamma, and Gamma struggled to move back.

"Does not compute…insufficient data…you have feelings for something you know nothing about. Why try to save something that is useless to you? Illogical!"

Amy blinked. "I pity you. Eggman failed to give you feelings. Love is not part of your programming- you're missing something good."

Birdie started to shake in Amy's hands, then finally flew free.

"Wait a minute Birdie!"

It flew out of the cage and hovered in front of Gamma, giving him pleading eyes. Gamma shook uncontrollably with lack of understanding, then suddenly started walking to the left.

"Get going. Go, escape!" he strained to say, unsure if it was truly right.

"Wh-what? Huh?"

Gamma reached forward and placed his metal hands on the release button. The cage door started to rise, giving Amy the means to escape. Amy couldn't move.

"Why are you letting us go?"

"It is dangerous here. Hurry, we'll be back at Mystic Ruins base soon."

Amy quietly stepped out of the base, amazed to see the sudden change in the robot.

"You're not like those other robots, huh? You're really nice! You truly are a good person inside, aren't you? You've got soft spot inside that metal frame. I guess we can be friends then! Take care, okay?"

She ran off, so happy as to be giggling on her way out.

. . . . .

Big entered the center of the Egg Carrier, where Eggman had made his announcement to the four robots way back. Even he wasn't sure how he managed to get onto the Carrier- he just followed Froggy and the robot.

"This place doesn't look familiar to me at all…" he suddenly started to sniff the air. "Hmm, smells like Froggy's around here somewhere. Think I'll see what's behind that door!"

He eagerly trotted to the center door, which was the same door Eggman had taken Froggy through. Big grinned, knowing he was already on the right track.

. . . . .

"Ha ha, so far so good…" Tails stated, flying up to the Egg Carrier. Sonic squirmed.

"I certainly hope you know what you're doing…"

Tails let out a laugh. "You bet! Watch this!"

"We're certainly not going down this time!" Tails nearly shouted. Robots and projectiles were flying at the duo like crazy, and Tails smirked knowing it was time to take action. "Transforming… NOW!"

An arm of some sort pulled out of the side. Sonic watched curiously until it suddenly grabbed him and held him off to the side.

"Whoa…"

As he dangled helplessly, Sonic watched as the Tornado 2 transformed into an ultra battle-plane. The wings flipped, some parts pulled in, and other parts extended. The arm set Sonic down on the back of the plane again, which was now higher up thanks to the transformation.

"Now let's do it!"

The newly acquire rocket engine roared to life in the form of a blue flame, and Sonic held on tightly while they blasted forward. Robots now stood no chance, and Tails even shot the Carrier itself a few times. Sonic was still in awe at the amazing transformation. He hardly paid attention to Tails happily blasting robots to bit with his new 'toy'. The hedgehog's attention finally snapped back when he heard Tails say, "Alrighty! We're in! Coming in tight!"

"We gotta land on the Egg Carrier!"

Tails suddenly froze. "Oops…we have a problem…uh, I forgot something…"

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "What _now?"_

Tails gulped. "There's no landing gear in this mode…I forgot to put it in-"

Sonic smacked his head. "WHAT!"

Tails rapidly slapped levers, hit buttons, and shifted things, but there would be no time to change back to normal mode. He cringed, and brought the plane down, knowing Sonic had to save Amy Rose- and stop Eggman. The plane's transformed wings landed hard on the surface, even digging into the metal and scratching paint.

"There's goes my awesome art job…" he sighed, forcing the plane to just about break. Sonic nearly flew forward from inertia, but caught himself just in time and flipped off the side of the plane.

"Wow…this thing is really huge!" Sonic commented, simply satisfied they made it in one piece and didn't dare speak of it again.

"No time to gawk Sonic. We've gotta find Amy!"

Sonic glanced at Tails out of the corner of his eyes and grinned. "You're right, my friend, so here we go!"

They started heading off, unaware Eggman was watching their every move.

"Don't get too many ideas, you fools! You haven't seen the power of what this vessel really has! How about I give you a little sample? Get a load of this!"

. . . . . . .

"This area is huge…" Knuckles noted, running over the top of the Egg Carrier once again. He had circled the vast place several times, but found no Emeralds. He hit the back of his head in an attempt to get his sense to work. "Well, I can still sense they're here somewhere…but where, exactly?"

The place suddenly started to shake, taking Knuckles by surprise and almost causing him to fall. "Uh! What's going on?"

The Carrier's outer pieces started shifting around, making the fortress a lot larger- and even deadlier. Knuckles just grumbled and shook his head. "Ugh…this thing always changing…"

. . . . . . .

"Ahhh, wow! It transformed! Did you see that?" Tails cried out, obviously fascinated by the spectacle. Sonic gave an "that was totally obvious" look to Tails before snapping his fingers.

"Darn! This makes it harder to get to the bridge! How are we supposed to get up there?"

"I hate it when he doesn't listen to me."

"Ha ha ha ha! I guess you weren't expecting that, were you?" they could hear Eggman cackle. "The only way you can get to me is through the Sky Deck. I doubt if you can figure this one out! Ha ha! I dare you!"

Sonic growled. "Oh yeah! Well I'll show you! Just watch me! Bring it on, Eggman!"

* * *

**Lol, "I hate it when he doesn't listen to me." I love that. And wanna know what ELSE I love? Next week's chapter. :D And then all of 'em after that. But espcially the next one. And I should probably stop talking. **


	13. The Great Sky Deck Escapade

Open Your Heart

Chapter 12: The Great Sky Deck Escapade

As Sonic and Tails headed upward, Knuckles continued to explore the main area. To his surprise, his glittery companion had returned.

"Find the entrance to the Sky Deck. The Master Emerald pieces are there."

Knuckles looked around. "Sky Deck, eh? Now ya tell me!"

He dashed through a suspicious looking door, only to end up in a room with a relaxing pool and calming atmosphere. Knuckles turned to the sparkle.

"_This_ is the Sky Deck?"

The sparkle sighed hopelessly. "No…"

She flew away from Knuckles and into the pool, which Knuckles realized with a double check wasn't full at all. He followed her to the doorway in the pool and felt some sort of energy surge through him.

"I sense the Master Emerald…It can't be far from here!" he stated, entering the area.

. . . . .

"Certainly not much room to run…" Sonic complained, carefully planning his path down a narrow walkway. Tails had no trouble in flying just above him. Both knew this part of their journey was too serious and complicated for a race, so they took it slow and easy- no matter how much Sonic apposed against it. The hedgehog jumped over several caution fences, and climbed up a steep ladder, now really envying his friend's ability to hover in the air.

"I could've carried you Sonic…" Tails pointed out, as if he was reading Sonic's mind.

"Aw, no…that would've made it harder for you!" Then, he had a thought. "You know Tails…maybe you should go on ahead! After all, you can breeze by all these obstacles faster than even I can!"

"B-But I don't want to leave you Sonic! We just got back with each other!"

Sonic signaled him to hold that thought while he clung to spinning parts in order to get over to the next part. Tails made a face that knew that Sonic was right as he bypassed the detour instantly. He waited for Sonic to catch up, but Sonic told Tails to keep going.

"Just go Tails! I promise we won't be separated again!"

Tails reluctantly agreed and flew out of Sonic's sight, Sonic knowing this was a good idea.

. . . . .

"This is more like it!" exclaimed Knuckles, now on the actual Sky Deck. He instantly came across a strange looking lever.

"You can use this to control the ship's tilt!"

"Oh really?"

And out of curiosity, he jerked it to the right.

. . . . .

Sonic rushed through the area as fast as his legs could take him- and as less the obstacles there were. Bam, bam, bam, bam- he made pin-sharp turns and daring jumps. Tails had taken Sonic's advice and flown ahead, already in the area succeeding the one Sonic was at. He didn't bother taking the straight forward path- Tails soared through his special green rings instead. It was truly incredible how much of an advantage the air gave him, and he really wished Sonic would've went with his idea instead.

"Now's he probably way behind…" Tails moaned, still twirling his helicopter-like tails.

Sonic bounded from spring to spring, feeling sort of like a ping pong ball. He managed to take his own shortcut by jumping off the side of a ramp way, but nearly fell off the entire thing. Sonic grabbed a railing and swung himself back to safety and sweat dropped.

"How come _I_ can't take shortcuts in my life?" he questioned, grumpily running off again. He didn't get far when he heard Tails' scream.

"Oh no!" the young fox shouted while dodging a large ball of plasma. Tails tumbled into a pile, another dangerous projectile aimed dead at him. "Dah!"

"I've got ya buddy!" Sonic called, grabbing his little bro and flying out the way. "What's going on?"

"I was afraid to fly any father ahead! These plasma balls are highly radio active!"

"Don't worry, we'll get outta- YAH!"

The ship suddenly sank on its right side, causing Sonic and Tails to fall with it as another plasma ball soared right over their heads.

. . . .

Big, who was trying to fish for Froggy, noticed the ship sink to the right and it threw off his fishing angle, causing him to just miss Froggy.

"Ah, phoo!"

. . . . .

Amy, who was currently escaping in the Hot Shelter, felt the ship suddenly jerk to right and struggled to keep her balance. Zero, who was once again chasing her, did fall to the right. Amy groaned and tried to keep going, despite the embarrassing tilt in the ship.

"Ugh, can't a girl get to safety in peace!" she complained. Amy ran through several doors, sank under water in attempt to get rid of Zero (it didn't work), and tried to keep Birdie calm. The vessel suddenly turned to the left, and Amy was sent rolling and nearly hitting spikes while Zero just crashed into a wall.

"This is just stupid!" she complained, blowing her bangs out of her face.

. . . . .

"Uh, testing, 1, 2, 3...Gamma! Get ready for battle instructions!" Eggman ordered. "Get the Jet Booster from the ammunition room, and get up to the deck. The ammunition room is now unlocked."

Gamma had accepted the task, still feeling strange about helping Amy, but tried to forget about it as he started the mission. When he claimed the Jet Booster, the ship toppled to the left, sending Gamma straight to the floor.

"…Ouch."

. . . . .

Big had fixed his angle so it was adjusted for the right tilt, but once the fortress tilted left, Big ended up rolling straight into the water.

"Oh man…blub blub blub…"

. . . . .

Once the vessel turned to the left this time, it sent the duo rolling toward the plasma balls. Tails took control of Sonic and flew him out of the way of anymore danger as the ship started rocking back and forth like mad. He set Sonic down since he couldn't fly very far, but the ship suddenly tilted frontward, and everyone rolled in that direction.

. . . . .

Gamma had somehow gotten off the floor and was headed for the rear of the ship, but with the ship in forward tilt he couldn't get to his destination- especially when he lost balance and landed on the floor again.

. . . . .

Big was still in the water, and felt the water shift forward in one giant wave. He waded around to see the source of the rushing noise, only to frown when he was swallowed up by an unexpected wave.

. . . . .

Amy still trudged on, also heading for the rear of the fortress- with Zero still not giving up. Amy had tried to escape through a tunnel, but just as she reached the other side Zero fell out of nowhere. The ship went forward tilt, flinging Amy to unexpected safety and Zero into the wall- again. When the Carrier went backward, Zero fell onto his back while Amy was given a boost in her escape.

. . . . .

Tails and Sonic were hanging on for dear life onto a pole since the Carrier went from jerking around to rolling in a sharp circle. No matter where they went, they'd be at the mercy of the Carrier. A plasma ball cannon still aimed at them, but another change in the Carrier prevented them from getting hit- barely.

"What the heck's going _on!" _Sonic shouted.

. . . . .

"Woot! This is actually kinda fun!" Knuckles cheered, furiously jerking the stick to and fro several times. He even started to make the ship tilt forward and backward! The sparkle regretted telling Knuckles anything related to that switch.

"Hey, remember the poor, lonely Master Emerald pieces scattered about?"

Knuckles smacked himself and struck a pose. "You're right! Master Emerald, here I come!"

Now that he wasn't lost in the power of the tilt-stick, he realized his sense was going mad. Knuckles found it was coming from a container being revolved by two spike balls. He jumped up and plowed his fist into it, shattering the case and freeing the Emerald piece. Knuckles cautiously flew back over the spike balls and scouted around for the next piece.

"I can feel it already!" the echidna exclaimed, trying to follow his instinct. He bashed and battered everything breakable, but no Emerald appeared and his sense was going bonkers. He approached a Badnik with fierce spinning blades, and could instantly tell a piece resided inside. Knuckles took a few steps back, sprung into the air, and Shovel Clawed the emerald right out of the creation.

"One more- where is it…"

His sense went crazy at a certain spot, but he couldn't get anywhere without the help of the tilt stick.

. . . . .

"Okay Tails, I think it finally stopped!" Sonic exclaimed, starting to run again. The ship tilted to the right, causing Sonic to slip. "…or maybe not…" He grabbed a different railing and gulped as he hung over an edge.

. . . . .

Big was tilted out of the water, but he managed to catch Froggy with his bare hands!

"Hooray!"

. . . . .

Zero once again crashed into a wall as Amy was prepared for the tilt and jumped at the right time.

. . . . .

Gamma was still on his way to the rear, and felt the vibration on the floor before the fortress could even shift. He tried out his new Jet Launcher and floated in the air as the floor turned right under him.

"This has complicated things greatly…"

. . . . .

Tails let go of the railing and flipped up into the air. "We have to get going, Sonic!"

He took Sonic's hand and carried them to safer ground. Sonic agreed and allowed Tails to fly Sonic through one of his shortcuts. He dropped Sonic on a platform and they ran- that plasma cannon was blasting away the pieces of walkway! The ran until Sonic reached a rocket, which he grabbed onto and took Tails' hand before they rocketed upward.

. . . . .

"That certainly helped a lot!" Knuckles exclaimed cheerfully. He jumped down from the entry area and flew downward- spotting the Emerald piece trapped in a room with a constantly opening and shutting door. Knuckles smashed right through and claimed his emerald, frustrated at bypassing it so many times before.

Once it was stored safely, Knuckles neutralized the tilt stick, and promised to never mess with it again.

However, he didn't lock it in place.

. . . . .

Sonic and Tails ended up in a whole new area, where the winds were threatening to blow them right back down to Mystic Ruins. A harsh gust blew, forcing the duo to grab onto the nearest object.

"This sure isn't going to be easy!" Sonic cried. "Tails, we have to get up to Eggman!"

Tails was hanging desperately onto to a pole and flapping like a flag. "I know!"

The wind calmed down a bit, but they were still strong. Sonic dared to let go and motioned for Tails to follow him. They rushed up ramps, jumped onto springs, and tried to go up as much as they could. They landed onto the next ledge up, only to see the ground beneath them shift around.

"This is nuts!" Tails shouted, finding himself rapidly moving up and down. Sonic stayed to the center path as much as he could.

"Yeah, but it sure is epic!" he replied, slicing his foot into a robot. Things started blowing up, sirens blared, and Tails' erratic screaming could make anyone go nuts. Sonic told Tails to get a grip with a sharp tone, and Tails meagerly nodded and tried to refill his confidence. They battled robots, fought the wind, but poor Tails' ears were begging to pop because of the sirens. Sonic found another rocket and dragged Tails to it.

"Sonic, I don't think I can take it…"

"A little farther buddy!" Sonic answered before the rocket took off into an entrance to the inner parts of the Egg Carrier. "Just hang onto me Tails!"

Tails did as he was told as Sonic started up so fast, a boom rocketed throughout the Carrier. With the help of the speed pads everywhere, Sonic was now zooming through this thing at the speed of sound. Here, the ship was tilting once more, but it was much smoother than before, and Tails figured that someone else was controlling the tilter at the moment- or maybe it was controlling itself. Sonic jumped a bridge out, climbed a ladder, then skidded violently around a corner. The tilt was throwing off his momentum- along with Tails- but he was just determined to reach Eggman and show him he could handle his stupid deck.

"Get ready Tails!" he warned before gabbing onto a hook passing overhead. They swung into an entirely different area and Sonic flat-out ran. There was no other word to describe the motion. Sprint, maybe, but it was best known as a run. Sonic's feet took control while the platforms, fortress, and all other surroundings manipulated his direction. Things were moving too fast for Sonic nor Tails to comprehend. They were just…going.

* * *

**Well, since I'm updating everything under the sun today, I decided why not this story xD I LOVE the chapter...**


	14. The Big Gamma Effect

Open Your Heart

Chapter 13: The Big-Gamma Effect

Sonic and Tails finally reached the end of the deck, and fell into the next area. Sonic took a look around and scoffed.

"Is that it?" He questioned, almost begging for more.

"It might be, but let's check out the bridge."

They were in the area that only Amy, Gamma, and Big had been in before, and at first weren't sure where to go. Basing their route on Tails' precise estimation, Sonic jumped down and followed Tails' guesses…which ended up being right when an Egg-ivator took them up to the top of the Carrier.

. . . . .

"I can feel it- we're just about there Birdie!" Amy said cheerfully while entering a red hallway. Just beyond it was the large yellow balloon that flew them out of reach of Zero. She now knew why it was called the Hot Shelter- she'd been chased through the engine room! Zero angrily swatted for Amy, but failed epically. Amy recalled hoe she was in a room with Zero on every reflective surface, until he finally broke free and Amy had jumped over him.

"I'm free of that metal monster…yes!" Suddenly, the orb that had been helping Amy along started to shine brightly, and Amy was blinded, receiving her first vision.

"Huh?" Amy gasped, now in a place far different than the Egg Carrier. It had tall, lush trees, and a giant temple that stood right before her. "What's this place?"

She heard a soft, kind voice, which Amy followed. She was stuck between the awe of how beautiful the place was and the intention to find the owner of the voice. As Amy stood off to the side, she found Tikal watching a gathering of Chao.

"You're the…Chao…" she whispered, taking a light step forward. Amy cocked her head.

"Why does this girl sound so surprised? It's just Chao!"

All the Chao moved away from Tikal in a swift movement. "Don't be afraid. You're safe with me."

"Eee-oooo!" one squeaked. It dared to make a move, coming closer to Tikal. "U-pa! U-pa!"

Tikal bent down and scooped up the Chao. The rest saw she wasn't going to hurt them and advanced upon her, making light noises. The water surrounding them, Amy noticed, was making rippling sounds like it was trying to communicate! Amy and Tikal gasped- more at the fact it was starting to rise than at the sounds it was making. Jut as it started to take some sort of shape, Amy was whisked back to the Egg Carrier.

"Gee, what was that?" she thought when she returned, ending up in the pool area Knuckles had found. "I wonder if I'm dreaming! Oh my! I need to get out of this place!"

She grabbed Birdie and went outside, only to hear the threatening voice of Dr. Robotnik.

"Where do you think you're going, Amy?"

He approached her in a metal hovercraft, an evil gleam in his eyes. Amy gulped and stepped back.

"Eggman…no!"

Eggman chortled. "You can't get away this easily!"

"A-HEM!"

Sonic and Tails dramatically arrived via the elevator, just in time to see Amy confronting Eggman. Sonic quickly jumped off and ran toward the female hedgehog, Tails following after. Amy saw them coming and gasped.

"Sonic! Tails!"

Eggman just scoffed. "Ha! Too late, buddy!"

A claw extended out of Eggman's craft, grabbing Birdie right out of Amy's hands. She jumped up and swatted for the animal.

"Not the Birdie!"

Eggman took the necklace off its neck then tossed the bird into the air, having no need for it anymore.

"It's a Chaos Emerald!" Tails gasped, seeing what Eggman had retrieved.

Amy blinked. "What? No way!"

Birdie started to float back to Amy as Eggman shouted to the skies. " Be gone! All of you! This is what I really need! I don't need you, when I've got this!" He sat forward and grinned broadly in his seat. "Gamma!"

Said robot appeared the same way Sonic and Tails did. "At your service, sir. What is your wish, Master Robotnik?"

"Dispose of these annoying pests! Eradicate all of those menaces! Show them what you've got!"

"Aye, aye sir. Will comply."

"I've got better things to do. I'll leave it up to you, Gamma…And don't disappoint me, or else!"

Eggman flew away a bit too anxiously, leaving Sonic and Tails to fight off Gamma and Amy to stand back and watch with wide eyes.

"Stop, Mr. Robot!" she called as the three fighters ran at each other.

"Let's do this!" Sonic yelled, spin dashing right through Gamma, damaging him. Gamma jumped to avoid another blow, but Tails was ready with a strike of his own. The battle was almost too easy: Sonic would hit, Gamma would dodge, and Tails would strike Gamma when he backed up. Gamma was losing power fast, and was even starting to spark up like Beta when Gamma fought him the first time. Everything went into slow motion as Gamma held up his gun to shoot Sonic, who was coming straight at him to deal the final blow.

"No!"

Amy jumped between Gamma and Sonic and planned to keep her place.

"Amy…that's one of Eggman's clunkers! Outta the way!"

Amy shook her head. "No! He helped me before by letting me escape. This robot is different! He's my friend! You don't need to hurt him, okay?"

Sonic nodded. "Okay…I guess I'll let him go then…you must have your reasons…"

Amy smiled and gave a look to Tails. Tails glanced around then sighed.

"Hmm…if you say so…"

She then turned to Gamma. "Hey, Mr. Robot. I know you're not an evil sort. Wait! Remember me?"

Gamma stopped preparing his gun and eventually set it down.

"Amy…Huh, I really don't get this!" Sonic sighed. The ground suddenly started to shake, which wasn't a good sign for anyone.

"The ship is losing altitude!" Tails cried.

Sonic took a moment to think of a solution then started to bark out an order.

"We're fresh outta time! Hurry Tails! Take Amy and get outta here, fast!" Tails frowned at the demand. "We gotta split!"

"What about you?" asked Amy. "What will you do?"

Sonic swung his fist out in front of him. "I'll nail that Eggman and put him out of commission! I can't let him escape! He must be stopped at all costs!"

Sonic turned and ran off, leaving Amy under Tails' protection, and Tails under Amy's command. Amy sighed as she watched her hero run away into the mists of the clouds.

"I knew you would save me, Sonic. Thanks again! You're my hero!"

She turned and looked up at Gamma. "And how about you, my metal friend? It's dangerous here. Don't pay attention to Eggman anymore. Free yourself!"

"Why are you helping me?" Gamma wondered.

"I told you we'd be friends the next time we met. I'm returning the favor! Even this birdie wants you to be free. You must ditch that awful Eggman! Eggman's not the kinda man you should work for…"

Tails sighed as he flew toward Amy and carried her into the air.

"Until we meet again, Mr. Robot."

They spun upward, Amy giving one last wave to Gamma.

"We'll meet again, my robot friend! Take care of yourself!"

Gamma said nothing. He transformed into "Flight Mode" and just flew away. Tails and Amy watched him leave before taking off themselves.

"The last missing piece! All right! Now to restore the Master Emerald…" Knuckles began.

. . . . .

Knuckles was just getting to leave the Sky Deck when Tikal in orb form returned. The echidna froze, turned around and said, "Huh?"

"My apologies Knuckles…I had to show someone else something at this time…"

"Wait, what-"

The sparkle revolved around Knuckles, using her time-traveling power once more.

"Ugh. Oh no…" he groaned. "Not again. What is the meaning of this?"

As Knuckles took in the surroundings again, he noticed everything was tinted an unnatural shade of orange, and the Master Emerald altar…was on fire!"

_Ancient cities blazing…_

"AAAAHH!"

Knuckles ran toward the area, until he saw Tikal lying limp on the ground.

"Hey, what happened here?"

"I couldn't…stop them…" Tikal panted, low on breath. Her head slowly moved up from the ground as she tried to explain. "They came and-and my father…I had no _idea_ how bad this would turn out!"

A pained roar rang out, and Knuckles looked to the sky for the sound.

"I'm shocked…"

Tikal groaned as she stood up, clutching her injured arm and staring at the chaos unfolding. She stared at the altar with tears with her eyes, and what remained standing in there made Knuckles' jaw drop.

"Look! It's the Emerald!"

Tikal suddenly ran off.

"Wait!"

Before he could catch up with her, the vision faded.

When Knuckles regained sight, he found himself back on the Egg Carrier. He looked down and clenched his fists.

"Is this a dream? No, it's more like a nightmare!"

Enraged, he stormed out of the room he had returned in, made a face at the irony it led back to the pool room, and left that place instantly.

. . . . .

Sonic ran away, not daring to look back knowing that if he did, he'd for sure go back with Tails and Amy. His instinct, however, told him something bad was happening with the way Eggman left like that.

"If I'm going to continue, I need to change this ship back to original shape! There must be a switch somewhere on the bridge! I've gotta find it, now!"

He dashed through a door, leading up to Eggman's private quarters.

"Oh yeah- it's definitely in here."

Eggman's chair started to move after he accidentally stepped on a switch. It revealed a special looking switch underneath. Sonic smirked.

. . . . .

Big was able to walk away with Froggy. He held his dear friend in the air and smiled. "We're together again at last, heh?"

The orb appeared, shining even brighter than usual, and spun around Big, giving him a vision…

"Where am I?" Big wondered. "Froggy?"

His companion once again did not accompany anyone to a vision. Big decided to see if he was still around and crossed a large stone bridge, leading to the Master Emerald altar where he had not been before. He always looked up into the sky from his home in Mystic Ruins to see Angel Island always flying high, but ever since it crashed, there was no pretty island in the sky! And if only Big could realize that's just where he was walking right now…

"This is interesting…" Big trailed when he saw Tikal staring up at the altar.

"Wow…" she breathed in awe. "Is it all right for me to be here?"

Big looked around. She couldn't have been talking to him- she was looking away from him! But then, who was she talking to? Big noticed that water made noises to respond to Tikal, which she miraculously understood.

"So…do you…trust me?" Tikal questioned. The water remained silent to say yes. She smiled and started up once more. "So these are the 7 emeralds…"

Tikal climbed the steps leading to the Master Emerald, and Big followed out of curiosity. When Tikal caught sight of the large green emerald, a sound emitted from her throat in pure surprise.

"Could it be? The servers are…the 7 Chaos Emeralds…unified by one that is the controller…The 7 Chaos…the controller itself…could this be the emerald that controls the 7 Chaos? "

And on that note, Big returned.

. . . .

Sonic hit the switch full force, causing the entire Carrier to shake upon retransformation. "Robotnik ran away towards the front of the ship!" the sparkle informed Sonic. "Hurry up and catch him!"

Sonic snickered. "Hurry up? I could lounge here before he'd even be able to make it two feet!"

. . . . .

Froggy was back in Big's arms when he arrived, and Big had come to a decision.

"Froggy, I don't like the looks of this place…"

A sudden a shake and a boom was heard up above, and the cat cringed.

"If something happens now…there's no point to my rescuing you! I don't know who would bother to save us both…"

All throughout the ship, the words "Emergency alert has been cancelled. Resuming monorail operation." rang out.

Big heard them and gulped.

"We'd better get moving buddy!"

He grabbed his frog, ran down to the bottom of the area he was in, and summoned a now working monorail to take him to the front of the Carrier. He hoped he could make an escape, but he was wrong…

"We're gonna make it buddy!" Big cried, pushing forward with every bit of determination. He suddenly saw a floating blue mass of water and stopped in his tracks.

That was the worst place for him to be right then- especially since Froggy still had Chaos' tail.

"So…I see you're trying to escape!" Eggman snapped as he arrived on the scene. "I'm right on time."

Big shook in fear. He unintentionally dropped Froggy.

"Chaos! Grab him! Get that frog…and don't forget the Chaos Emerald!"

Froggy also started to panic, but not because of the huge water creature in front of him. Something…Urgh, something sure didn't feel right…Big noticed he was starting to glow yellow before he hacked up the long forgotten yellow Chaos Emerald. Chaos prepared to intake it as Eggman threw him the fifth emerald. Upon consuming both, he transformed into Chaos 6.

"…all right. Now for the frog. The frog is possessed by your tail!"

Big started frantically dancing around. Besides that, he was too paralyzed with fear to do anything.

"Once you get your tail, you'll be complete and ultra strong!"

Froggy started to hop toward Chaos, no matter how hard he refused. Chaos, now a giant blob/frog/bug/creepy/monster form, opened his mouth, ready to take back his tail.

"Froggy!" Big wailed. He was briefly blinded by Chaos' next metamorphosis.

. . . .

"I've finally found all the missing pieces…but…" Knuckles started to run. "I still can't figure out that creepy monster…"

It reminded him of his battle with Sonic, and their fight together against Chaos, though he quickly got rid of that thought or else he'd be reminiscing about that hedgehog, which was the last thing he wanted to do at the moment. He then stopped and bugged his eyes out.

"Huh? What's _that!"_

A spark of light shone over the horizon of the ship, and the echidna was now determined to find the source.

. . . .

Big could only stare as the blob gained a devil-worthy tail. Sonic arrived at the last second, breaking to a stop next to Big.

"Oh man…not again! This is unbelievable!" he grunted. He glanced at Big. "Look what's happened! Could this really be the same beast?"

Big blinked, not having a clue what Sonic was talking about. "Huh?"

The doctor started to cackle madly, until he saw Sonic. "Oh yes! Attack Sonic, now!"

"Froggy?" Big said worriedly. "I must save Froggy!"

"So, he's your friend, eh?"

Big looked down to see Sonic smirking. There was something about that smirk…something that told Big he could trust him. "If he's your friend, I'll help you. No sweat! Just leave it to me!"

He took off into battle. "I'll get him back. Watch me."

Big stayed silent for a moment until he heard Froggy croak out. "Careful Froggy! Don't worry! We'll get you back!"

"Wahahahah! Now I have 6 of the Chaos Emeralds. There's only one more left to find. I even found Chaos' missing tail!"

"You won't get away with this, you madman!" Sonic shouted, holding up a fist.

"Oh, but I will! You're no match for Chaos- even though he's not perfected yet!" he turned to the creature he helped create. "Okay Chaos…destroy them all immediately!"

* * *

**DUN NUH NAH! I can't WAIT for the Chaos 6 battles...another chapter that's definitely up there in the favorites. xD**


	15. Chaos to the 6th Power

Open Your Heart

Chapter 14: Chaos to the 6th Power

Big was on the other side of Chaos, trying to think up a way to get Froggy back.

_"Aim for the frog, then cast your lure!"_ Tikal in orb form explained.

"Uh, okay!"

It was time to put his fishing skills to the ultimate test! Big waited for Sonic to finish his attack before he intervened. Chaos moved back and forth testily- one false move would set him off. Big searched all over for Froggy, but he wasn't visible. Just then, Sonic whisked by, giving the cat a brief wink.

Eggman thought he was being sneaky when he dropped a bomb next to Sonic. He couldn't have backfired even more! Sonic easily avoided it as Chaos opened his mouth to try and suck Sonic in. Once again, Sonic moved out the way and Chaos ended up slurping up the explosive.

"RAWR!"

Chaos was forced to keep his throbbing mouth open, giving Sonic the perfect opportunity to attack. The spin dash ended up shattering all of Chaos' armor.

"No! I can't believe this!" growled Robotnik.

Meanwhile, Big finally spotted Froggy and threw his lure into Chaos.

"Oh please Froggy…this time you really need to catch on!" pleaded Big. Since Froggy wasn't being controlled by Chaos' tail anymore, he was able to do things at his own free will. He closed his mouth on Big's hook, and Big tugged with full determination. Chaos let out a roar, but Froggy was freed nevertheless. For the first time in a long time, Big laughed.

"Froggy! I won't let them take you away again!" he promised.

"Go! Go on and get outta here!" Sonic ordered, interrupting his celebration. "I'll do the rest!"

"Oh. Okay! Thanks!" Big called. "Come, little buddy. Time to get a move on!"

As he walked away, Big thought about how he said he didn't know who would bother to save both him and Froggy and smiled. Apparently Sonic would.

Sonic grinned at Big leaving, then seriously turned back to the fight. "Now where was I?"

"Heading into your _doom_!" Eggman bellowed, sending down two more Egg Bombs. Sonic wanted to pulled off his first maneuver, but Chaos had gotten smarter and refused to open his mouth.

"Think, Sonic, think. You've got two ticking bombs surrounding you, and Chaos only wants you for a snack…"

He quickly grabbed one, the other blowing up as soon as he was out of range. Chaos noticed his opponent advancing on him and prepared to devour him. Sonic chucked the bomb at Chaos' side, causing more armor to crumble away.

"There we go!"

Sonic backed away from Chaos, now focusing more attention on the next bomb Eggman would drop. When he cracked the case and took out the bomb, Chaos sprang forth on its legs, jumped into the air, crashed down next to Sonic, and shocked him with a large purple-pink wall of energy. The hedgehog struggled to get another bomb, but Chaos slashed at him with his deadly tail.

"I tried to warn you Sonic!" Eggman tisked with a snicker. Sonic groaned on the ground before getting back up. Eggman's negativity was more the reason to keep fighting. He felt a vacuum force try to suck him up, prompting Sonic to roll away from Chaos' mouth. He threw a bomb at his head, causing the monster to reel back and Sonic to attack. Another part of armor shackled off. Eggman pounded on his dash board.

"At this rate he'll turn Chaos to rubble!"

"You'd better believe it!" Sonic called, jumping over another dangerous wall of pink. The doctor gritted his teeth and literally rained bombs all around Sonic, all set to go off. Sonic hurried to grab the one closest to him and darted through the mass of bombs.

"Unh!"

The bomb struck Chaos dead in the face, Sonic following up with a spin dash. The second to last part fell off, Sonic tumbled backward from the aftermath of the explosion, right into the group of bombs, and Eggman hit a button.

"Good-bye, Sonic the Hedgehog!"

POW POW POW POW…bombs erupted without warning. Sonic became lost in a sea of flames and flying pieces of metal. Chaos roared and backed away from the trouble, Eggman gleefully watching what was hopefully Sonic's demise.

"Mind if I borrow this?"

"_What the!"_

Sonic smirked, pulled a bomb out from Eggman's stash tucked away behind his seat, and aimed it at Chaos.

"_How_ did you get _out_ of that?"

"Does 'fastest thing alive' mean _nothing_ to you anymore?" was the annoyed reply. The final bomb collided with Chaos, and before Eggman could slug that little blue pest, Sonic flew over Eggman's head and finally finished Chaos off.

"Not again! I hate you!" Eggman barked. Sonic just rolled his eyes.

"Hey Sonic!" Knuckles called, rushing up to his friend eagerly. Sonic grinned.

"There you are Knuckles! Glad you finally made it! I thought you got lost or something!"

"Until we meet again, Sonic!" Eggman boomed, trying to escape. Sonic gave an apologetic glance to Knuckles before chasing after Eggman.

"Eggman…come back here!"

Knuckles just watched as they left. "…I'd better let Sonic handle it from here…"

"Yah!"

Sonic jumped off the edge of the Egg Carrier, landing in Eggman's getaway vehicle. Knuckles just shook his head with a light smile.

"He'll do okay…now, I must return to Angel Island and the Master Emerald."

He turned to leave, but only manage to tilt his head. Chaos 6 hadn't been fully defeated.

"No! It can't be! I guess he didn't get enough the first time!" Knuckles growled and held out a Shovel Clawed fist. "You can't stop me from restoring the Master Emerald!"

Just like Sonic's first move against the creature, Knuckles activated a left-over bomb and threw it into Chaos' awaiting mouth. He gagged on the explosive favor while Knuckles swooped in and gave him a puncture to the head. Once again, a layer of Chaos' defense shattered.

"If you thought Sonic was hard to handle, you haven't met me!"

Chaos hissed and struggled to move closer to Knuckles. His new large body made it difficult to move, or transform into puddle mode. He still managed to inch himself around, though Knuckles found another bomb before he could do anything.

"HURHH!"

Chaos forced himself into the air, falling flat onto Knuckles and doing double damage by blowing him off with the pink energy wall. Knuckles groaned and rolled away painfully, briefly lying limp on the ground.

"Where'd my bomb go?" he wondered meekly aloud. A few paces off, Chaos was approaching him again. The echidna scrambled off the ground and glided toward the bomb. With a punch and a mighty toss, it made contact with Chaos. Knuckles soared back and sliced through the liquid body, destroying another part of armor.

"That's a little payback!"

Chaos roared loudly in Knuckles face. The monster went to attack Knuckles, but his target somehow managed to dig through the metal and disappear.

"ARGH!"

Knuckles shot up from under Chaos, doing an uppercut to stun him then forcing another bomb down his throat and striking again. Chaos howled louder than ever before, getting a fighting chance when he struck Knuckles with his tail. The pointy, electrifying tail did a massive blow to Knuckles, sending him skidding across the floor.

"Oh man…how did Sonic take this?" Knuckles moaned. There really was no motivation for Knuckles in this fight, except for the fact this thing was preventing him from returning to the Master Emerald. At least Sonic had Eggman to push him to prove the doctor wrong. Knuckles didn't. He heard Chaos cry out again, tail pounding down once more. Knuckles yelped, spearing the tail with a claw before it got away. As Chaos was distracted with that, Knuckles trudged to grab another bomb and damaged Chaos some more.

"You think you can take me down?" He punched Chaos hard, claws trying to mark up the squishy exterior. "It'll be the death of you!"

Knuckles was mad now- which he usually was, but now he was downright furious. He was not about to be battered around by a shocking tail and a random ring of pink.

"One more hit, and it's over for you!"

Chaos snarled in response, attempting to charge at Knuckles who gave an amused hum. He simply punched a nearby bomb and waited for Chaos, slurping around with his suction-like mouth.

"You might have a brain in there, but you sure don't use it…" Knuckles hummed. "Even _I'm_ smarter than _that_!"

Chaos slurped up the bomb, feeling the wrath of its explosive power on the inside, and Knuckles' fists on the outside. The giant blob of water's roar died down as it collapsed on his side and erupted into shards of ice.

"Is that all you got?" Knuckles snickered. "Yeah, you're finished!" With Chaos finally out of commission, the 6 Chaos Emeralds lay on the ground, faintly twinkling.

"What's left now is to return the Master Emerald safely to my island!"

Knuckles glanced down. "I suppose I'll take these with me…"

He scooped all 6 up, stored them with his Master Emerald chards, and went to go back home.

Meanwhile, Big had escaped…all the way to the back of the Carrier where the still-in Battle Mode Tornado 2 was.

"Huh? Er, what?"

He certainly wasn't expecting a plane to be there.

"Hey…maybe we can use this! …but I don't know the first thing about it." Big shrugged. "Oh well. I'll give it a try anyway!"

Now with everyone officially off the Egg Carrier, it lost all its altitude, and for reasons unknown, it began to blow up. Tails and Amy flew away, the former briefly forgetting about his plane. Gamma was already gone and Sonic had obviously hitched a ride with Eggman. Knuckles glided away from the catastrophe, glad no one was still on board. Big was right behind him, attempting to drive Tails' plane : key word, attempting. After all, he had no idea what he was doing and barely even fit into the plane in the first place.


	16. New Beginnings and Final Destinations

Open Your Heart

Chapter 15: New Beginnings and Final Destinations

Tree. Tree. Tree branch. Random stick. Mud. Splash. Face first. Ugh. Sonic stylishly flipped himself out of the muddy bog in Mystic Ruins. That was obviously the only way to survive a Carrier crash. He brushed himself off and groaned in pure disgust.

"Grr…I hate Eggman." There it was. Blunt, frank, and truthful. Once Sonic got that out of his system, he observed his surroundings. "Where's this?"

He wasn't just in Mystic Ruins- but the Lost World Area, where only Knuckles, Tails, and Big have been. But the fact he's never been there before wasn't what shocked him…what shocked him was the top half of the temple suddenly starting to rumble. That certainly wasn't natural. Something else that wasn't natural showed up also...

"Hmm?"

The sparkle had returned. She was glowing like when she had given all the others their visions. Sonic was still the only person not to receive one. But that certainly didn't mean he hadn't noticed her help before.

"That light…I think it's trying to show me something!"

The light floated toward the temple, now with a brand new entrance.

"Looks like I'm following!" he exclaimed, running up the steps after her.

. . .

Not too far from where Sonic had crashed after the Carrier fell, Big and Froggy arrived on a ledge jetting out of a cliff. The Tornado 2 was nose first in the ground, now officially unable to be flown. They could see the temple Sonic went into, plus the rest of the ruins, and Big smiled. He and Froggy climbed down from the ledge and headed to the nearest river, Big instantly throwing his pole into the water. Froggy let out a noise that sounded like a laugh when Big fell over trying to reel in a fish.

The kidnapping of Froggy was over, and Big had some fishing to catch up on. It was all about them now, even though Big had made a new friend or two. It was just like old times, when they were living in paradise.

. . .

Everyone else had landed somewhere from Mystic Ruins to Station Square, along with the carrier ending back up in the ruins; the Egg Carrier obviously didn't make much flying progress. E-103 Gamma was the first to make it safely (second if you don't count Sonic's plummet into mud), his new Jet Booster working like a charm. He was scanning his memories…of Beta being taken apart…of E-103...of Amy Rose with her big, pleading eyes…of Eggman. He needed to make a choice: which one was he going to delete? The four picture swirled endlessly in his mind processor, making the robot dizzy beyond control.

They finally stopped at the image of Eggman, the tint of the picture red.

"Dr. Robotnik…enemy…Master registration…deleted…E Series: Friends. Must save…"

He landed near the train station, a new motivation in mind.

. . .

Amy and Tails were the only ones to not end up in Mystic Ruins- they ended up at the edge of Station Square thanks to Tails. Birdie happily flew down right behind them. Amy dusted herself off as Tails started to trot away- his job was done! She waved, not saying a word to him. It wasn't that they didn't like each other- it was more of the fact that when they were together, it was always a competition for Sonic's attention. The flight back down was different- it was a matter of life and death, and Sonic wasn't with them. It was one of the rare times when they weren't bickering…

"Nice of him to just leave us!" Amy scoffed, making sure Birdie was safe in her hand.

Tails didn't leave Amy because he was heartless- Eggman's getaway craft had tumbled to a crash landing not too far from them. He glanced at Amy who was too busy messing with Birdie to notice an evil doctor possibly vulnerable not too far away.

"That's Eggman! I wonder what happened to Sonic…" he wondered. He remembered seeing Sonic on the back of Eggman's ship when they all evacuated, but where did Sonic go?

. . .

It had been a long, creepy, fiery, dark, and wet trek through the ruins, but Sonic had caught up with the sparkle. She solemnly floated down a bridge of some sort, Sonic jogging after. When he rushed by, the water made a noise, but Sonic just thought that was the wind of his speed effecting the water. He stopped, looked up, and felt his jaw drop.

"Whoa…w-what's this?"

A mural. A giant wall mural…With a picture of a blue dragon-like creature terrorizing a city submerged in dark waves. As Sonic took it in, Tikal took him back in time…

It was a scene just like Knuckles' last saw, the Master Emerald altar up in flames.

"Where am I? This is really weird!"

The same reaction everyone else had wondered when they had their first visions. Well, his first priority at least was to check out the burning area. Wasting no time, he ran up to the altar. The wind blew wildly, Chaos were motionless on the ground, and everything was threatening to fall into ashes. Tikal, before she acquired her injury like in Knuckles' vision, stared sadly at all the chaos and destruction.

"Why? Why did this have to happen?" She turned to Sonic who was too stunned to speak. "It's terrible. I must stop this now!"

She marched up to the still intact Master Emerald, preparing to do everything in her power to stop the madness. She had no idea what was coming to her. Sonic just watched…until the vision faded out.

. . .

The other E-Robots had to have crashed somewhere in Mystic Ruins, Gamma knew at least that much. It had been a long time of long, relentless searching until he located the first of his brothers in Windy Valley: E-103 Delta. Delta made a move with a photon blast, but Gamma took it out and countered instantly. Gamma was almost ashamed to be beating his younger brother like this, though it had to be done. A few more hit, and Delta was sparking for mercy.

"Sorry Delta." Gamma stated in a robotic voice, shooting one last time and causing Delta to crumble and blow up in a bright sphere of light. A orange bird floated out of the robot, and Gamma would've smile.

"E-103 Delta- rescue complete!"

He watched the orange Flickie fly happily way, enjoying its new freedom. Gamma waved.

"You're welcome Delta."

. . .

"I wonder what Sonic is doing…" Amy thinking the same thing Tails was after he left. "He's always rescuing me it seems. I should be more independent."

She grabbed Birdie again and walked off. Amy glanced down at her friend and smiled a little.

"You know you sure surprised me…by having a Chaos Emerald with you. No wonder they were after you, my feathered friend." She took a look at the locket where the Chaos Emerald was, but now it had become a simple pendent. "Hey! A pendent! Wow! "

It popped open, revealing yellow and pink birds just like Birdie flying next to him in a picture.

"I'll help you find you family! Does Eggman have them captive now?" Birdie chirped in response. "I bet he does. So I'll help you! I've come this far. I might as well go all the way! That robot said Dr. Eggman's base was in the Mystic Ruins…so what do you say we check it out?"

She just about skipped off to the train station. Sonic would be so proud of her right now…

. . .

Tails was like a ninja, following Eggman like this. It was a miracle he hadn't noticed the fox when he peeked around the corner at his overturned vehicle. Eggman, still sitting inside, groaned.

"I'm finished…Chaos was defeated and now my Egg Carrier is ruined. No matter…I will destroy Station Square anyway!"

He punched the few working buttons in his mobile, causing the craft to be get up and working again. Tails waited to see what he was going to do, only for the doctor to turn around and glare at him. A very large missile emerged out of the water. Tails eyes bugged out.

"If that missile is launched…"

"Ready?" sneered Eggman, cutting him off. "Fire!"

The missile blasted away from the water, destination Station Square. It landed with a thunderous boom in the middle of the city and Tails prepared for the worst…but nothing happened.

"Aw no! It was a dud!" screeched Eggman. "I can't believe this! Bah! I'll go and deal with this myself!"

He took off, leaving Tails with a fear-stricken face.

"Oh no…I better get to that missile before he detonates it!"

Eggman blasted off, Tails getting caught in the tailpipe smoke.

"I've just gotta get there before Eggman…The fate of Station Square depends on me, huh…Sonic!" Tails took a double-take. Calling out Sonic's name wasn't going to help. He shook his head. "I've changed a lot since I started hanging with Sonic…but I can't depend on him forever. I know I can do this by myself…"

Tails smirked and struck a "Sonic" pose. "Okay Eggman! Bring it on!"

. . .

A trek through Red Mountain wasn't what Gamma wanted, but he did it anyway. He had to save the E-100 series robots. It that meant going through a lava-ridden mountain, then so be it. E-104 Epsilon awaited at the end of the romp. It didn't take long for Gamma to start doing damage. Epsilon simply blocked a few of Gamma's shots, but it didn't hold out forever. Gamma's determination was definitely going to overcome him. Epsilon turned around and stared firing attacks of his own, but Gamma's Jet Booster ended up 'boosting' him and brought him out of harm's way. Epsilon would have widened his eyes as Gamma returned unscatched, weapon ready to fire. The golden robot was forced to jump out of the way of a missile, putting him in line for another barrage of pain, unable to dodge.

"It's for your own good, Epsilon…"

Epsilon gave one last glance to Gamma before he, too, exploded in a dome of yellow-orange. A dark blue Flickie flew out of Epsilon's rubble. Gamma raised his gun into the air.

"E-104 Epsilon: Rescue complete!"

* * *

**I'm criticising this chapter- 1, because I rushed one or two things, 2, because I skipped Sonic's Lost World Stage (or whatever its called) since it was really long and way too confusing for me, 3, because I skipped Gamma's Red Mountain Stage, and 4, because that was a very terrible battle against Epsilon. (I added to it just now, but I'm still thinking 'meh') Feel free to either agree or disagree or say something completely different!**


	17. A Few Winning Rounds

Open Your Heart

Chapter 16: A Few Winning Rounds

"Hmm…I don't remember this bridge…" Amy pondered, arriving to the entrance to Eggman's Mystic Ruin base. She was told by Tikal's sparkle that strange robots have been seen going in and out of the jungle. For a brief second, she thought of Gamma. "Looks dangerously suspicious!"

Any bridge Eggman themed leading to a totally obvious building_ would_ be suspicious. Amy turned to birdie and asked if he wanted to go. Birdie nodded. She trusted the bird's decision, and they entered the remains of the Final Egg…but…

Zero fell out of nowhere again, and she screamed.

"Not you again!" Amy glanced at Birdie. "This was a terrible idea! I thought we finally lost this stalker robot!"

Amy took off as fast as she could, avoiding lasers and other still working traps. When she thought they had lost it, that orange sparkle ruined everything.

_"The robot that was following you is closing in on you."_

"What're you talking about-"

Zero crashed through the wall and nearly grabbed Amy. She smacked the hand away with her hammer and ran away again.

_"You mustn't let it catch you no matter what."_

_. . ._

"E-103 Delta…E-104 Epsilon…Rescue mission accomplished." Gamma announced, now back in main Mystic Ruins. "E-105 Zeta…E-101 Beta…location unknown." He recalled Beta being locked up, and Gamma had an idea. "Perhaps aboard the Egg Carrier…"

. . .

"So, you think you can keep up with me?" Eggman snickered once he realized Tails was following him. "You'll never defeat me!"

Tails struggled to look confident after hearing that, but took a glance into the sky, saw his green-black shortcut rings, and smirked.

"I don't think so Eggman!"

Maybe his races with Sonic we're going to pay off now… they were racing down Speed Highway, the scene making their epic race even more dramatic. Tails flew up and blasted through the rings, watching Eggman slowly keep to the street. He landed for a hot second before floating through another set. Eggman's face flashed fear.

"Tails! Wait for me!"

_Who did this guy think he was?_ Tails rolled his eyes- the last thing he'd do was _wait_ for him! The two-tailed fox raced over boost pad, flew up to a farther part of the road, then took off through another shortcut. Even though he was way ahead of him, Tails' could still hear Robotnik's voice heckling him.

"I've got you now Tails…I'll destroy this whole city!"

"I won't let you!" Tails shouted back.

"Ahahahaha!"

Tails dared to look over his shoulder and frowned deeply- Eggman could fly through his shortcuts too!

"Just when I thought I had an advantage…" he groaned. "…but I'm still not giving up!"

Tails turned his namesakes as hard as he could, making him go faster than ever before. He bypassed Eggman who retorted with a "WHAT! You caught up!" and zoomed right by. A series of green-blacks hoops lie before him, and he certainly was going to use them before Eggman.

"I'd rather be racing Sonic…it's not a matter of life and death with him!"

Glancing straight forward, he saw the missile and gasped loudly. Eggman wasn't too far behind though…"

Tails strained to go faster. "Gotta believe…I can make it… gotta believe in myself!"

One final push, and Tails had made it.

"There's the missile!" he gasped. Right there, prtruding out of the middle of the street, was the dud missile- that still needed to be disptached. Tails clenched his fist out of frustration. If only Sonic were here! He then glanced over his shoulder to see the people of Station Square gazing at him with looks of hope on their faces.

"What're y'all lookin' at me for? There's nothing I can do about this..." he sighed. "I wish..."

_"He'd say I should try...he'd say I can do anything!" _

Tails cringed before changing his worried outlook to confidence.

"All right! I'll give it my best shot!"

He wasted no time in flying up toward the missile, hearing small cries of happiness ring out. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips, but no one was safe yet. Once he was at the missile, tails opened the hatch to the inner mechanisms and got to work.

"If I could only figure out which wire to cut! if I cut the wrong one, I'll practically be doing Eggman's work and detonate this thing anyway! And I don't have much time..." The doctor would arrive on the scene at any moment now! And then, Tails gulped, who knows what he'd do, now that Tails had beaten him and was getting ready to disarm to missile. "C'mon, I know a lot of technical stuff...this should be easy!"

His mind a bit calmer than before, Tails grinned as he confidently cut a red wire, knowing it was right. Everyone tensed up as the wire was snapped, but Tails and his technical know-how was their savior. Tails was frozen in a moment of shock, still in fear it would blow, but eventually he snapped out of it via shouting happily, "I did it!"

But, he wasn't finished yet…when he prepared to tell people that everything was okay, he could hear people shout and scream at the sight of Robotnik finally catching up. He hovered in his craft, staring darkly at Tails.

"So, you beat me to the missile you little pest. I will make you all pay for this."

He flew upward, seemingly leaving, but came back down with an advance version of his flying sphere. A woman shrieked "Let's get out of here!" and the crowd dispersed instantly. The machine stood 20 feet taller than Tails himself, and he had every reason to be terrified.

"You fool! Away, before I make mincemeat out of you!" the mad doctor seethed. His tone was darker than ever before. Tails gulped.

"I'm not scared…I'm not scared…I can do this!"

And he meant it. Going against the Egg Walker wouldn't be an easy task, that's for sure, but Tails knew he could do it. He knew. He felt it. Tails ran for the machine as Eggman sent projectile his way, and also raising the Walker's front/right foot.

"Get a load of this!"

A shockwave naturally radiated out, but Tails was flying so it didn't matter to him. He landed and quickly attacked the foot that had raised. It started sparkling, and cause the machine to fall into a heap on the ground.

"I can't believe this!"

"Well you better!" Tails remarked boldly, attacking the main body. Eggman rebooted the system, then sprung to a farther spot down the street. Tails followed, and the process repeated with the front/left foot. Eggman fled again, and just when Tails was getting comfortable with the system, all four legs started stomping on the street. Both the back/left and front/left caused painful quakes, catching Tails both times and losing precious rings. He struggled to get back up while the Walker walked forward some more, but then walked backward.

"Oh, my head is spinning, and his stomping really isn't helping…" Tails moaned. The front feet stomped, and Tails was struck again. Oh man…this time, he quickly recovered and hit both the front feet before Eggman got away.

"Grrr!"

"HIYAH!"

Another blow was dealt to the main body, and Eggman certainly wasn't enjoying it. He jumped back once more, angrily thundering down the back/right and front/left. Tails knew better than to land, and waited a few seconds before spiraling like a top into the back, then the front. The Walker collapsed again, and Tails attacked again. This was really taking a toll on the fox…

"Augh! He's not gonna get away with this!"

He fired out at least seven bombs, all explosions barely avoided by Tails. He could even feel a small scorch mark on his tail, but it didn't sting thank goodness. Tails flew under the Walker again, Eggman simultaneously emitting shockwaves from three of the legs instead of two.

"One last hit should do it!" Tails exclaimed, bringing down the Walker once more and striking full force.

He had beaten Eggman all by himself.

"No way! I can't believe this…"

The group of specters had returned, and were even applauding Tails' victory. Tails could help but grin proudly.

"hey…I did it!"

"You saved the day!" "You're the best!"

Tails smiled even bigger. "I really did it-all by myself!"

He scratched the back of his head, blushing at all the praise he received. He started dancing around in a circle before taking off into the now night sky, the crowd still cheering him on. He hadn't felt this good since…since…

Since the day he met Sonic.

. . .

"Whew! That was a close one!" Amy gasped. That sprint was probably the most intense one she'd ever done! "I saw no sign of you relatives Birdie. Well, you escaped from the Egg Carrier, so maybe your family's still there! Let's investigate? Wanna?"

Amy froze. "…that's what I said last time, isn't it?"

. . .

"E-Series data. Beginning search…" Gamma stated to no one in particular when he reached the Egg Carrier crash site. "Accessing data…Hot Shelter. E-Series location confirmed. Unlocking Hot Shelter sector, now."

. . .

Sonic stood in a sluggish, tired stance, now outside the dreaded temple. He managed to wake up a little as his mind raced.

"What was that all about? I don't think I'm dreaming here…huh?"

Eggman blasted by him so fast, the doctor probably didn't see. Sonic took off running, seeing him turn behind the giant structure. "Eggman! What's he doing here? Oh, never mind…this time, I'll get him good!"

He held a fist out in front of him and smirked. Sonic followed Eggman, until he managed to breach his secret base and trek through the area Amy went through: Final Egg. He took out lasers and avoided claw-hands trying to nab him. All it truly took a was a few decent hops and some quick hopping skills, and Sonic was already near the top of the room and heading to the next area!

"It's almost like my kind of place!" Sonic remarked, jumping from treadmills and beating their speeds. He rushed into a tumbler of some sort, followed by a neon green path that led to another set of tumblers. "It's odd that parts of the Egg Carrier are still working…"

It was quite the crash, after all, and yet all of Eggman's tricks and traps were still working. Again, odd…Sonic just shrugged it off and kept going. The Carrier was huge, and if he wanted to get to the center, it would take awhile- even for him, especially when he was trying to climb up something that was moving beneath him! It took several tries on a Boost Pad to actually get up, and he was off once again.

"Hmph…" was all Sonic muttered. He ran right by the watchful eyes of two spotlights and into the next area. Somehow, two platforms managed to float in midair (if Tails were there, he'd explain it was magnetic forces repelling each other) but they led to the next part of solid footing. Sonic jumped easily over them, then spin dashed to the next side by using two lingering flying robots. He rushed into the next area, skidded around the corner, and performed a Sonic Boom down an octagonal tunnel. Sonic was enjoying the rush of speed until he suddenly collided with a spring and found himself several feet in the air.

"Another interruption to a peaceful run…" he complained while bouncing over another set of platforms. He cautiously, yet somewhat carelessly, worked his way up until there was another room. Sonic smirked and Spin Dashed into it, rounded another corner, and yet again tore down a hallway of some sort. And yes, again, he collided with a Spring. The hedgehog went flying into the air, however landed perfectly and unintentionally onto a button that revealed a whole hidden section of the Egg Carrier. Sonic looked around-more platforms, new hammer…things. What, was THAT supposed to be a challenge? Ha.

"Here we go!"

Sonic jumped onto the supposed obstacle, which turned out to be helpful when he sprung himself up onto the highest platform. Naturally, he did a stylish spin before landing on his feet again.

"I hope Eggman doesn't get worse than that…" Sonic wished before going down a small elevator he was able to reach all too easily. Once it stopped descending, he stepped out, gazing at the large cylinder at the center of the room. To Sonic, it looked like the turbines, but he wasn't completely sure. The Blue Blur just shrugged- he was only curious- and ran on. He did a heroic jump off the edge, going even lower in the Egg Carrier, and bounding from one platform to another. Eventually he reached another "elevator".

"It sure resembles one, but it looks like a bug!" Sonic had commented, referring to the weird leg things that brought Sonic down another level. As Sonic rolled out of that one, he could now clearly hear a voice over the barely working inter com, informing any intruders of an emergency. Sonic's ear twitched. "Aren't I the only one on the Egg Carrier though?"

He replaced that thought with one about the supposed "emergency" and went sprinting out of the room, doing a hurdle jump over two spinning spike ball chains. Sonic did a huge Spin Dash chain over dozens of pink droids in the following room, working his way over to a ladder that he quickly climbed. The hedgehog literally blew himself into another section of the carrier, but then his expression softened.

"Man, I wish Tails was with me…I like to have a good run by myself, but when I'm infiltrating a base…" he bashed through an enemy. "…it's nice to have some company."

Flying through the rooms had reminded Sonic of when they were in Windy Valley, and how Tails was so excited to be there…or just simply spend some time with Sonic. Thinking about his little bro made him smile.

"…but he took Amy to safety, didn't he? Yeah…he's fine- they're both fine, and when I stop Eggman for good this time around, it's going to nothing but me and my friends."

He then smirked, at the same time getting closer to the end.

"And who knows- I might even keep in touch with Knuckles a little more…"

He zigzagged up a path that jetting out of wall, spring himself into another tunnel. This one had a more abrupt stop, as Sonic began to freefall down another dozen floors, collecting rings the entire way.

"Woah-"

Somehow he managed to land on a platform- back first. He groaned while getting back up, seeing that there were more things to fly over. He hopped forward, then allowed the air to take control. Sonic did a flip before ending up on his feet, and dashed away.

"I've gotta be getting close now!"

He bashed through a couple robots that stood in his way while running through even more of the Egg Carrier. Puppets that resembled Tails, Knuckles, and himself popped up, causing Sonic to brake to a brief stop.

"What the…he uses _US_ as practice dummies?"

Sonic grinned. "He sure got me spot on, but the knucklehead's head is a bit crooked." he slightly snickered. "Oh wait- that's normal! Heh heh heh…aw, but he's still my best friend."

He patted the Knuckles dummy. "Don't worry-I'm only messin'!"

He left the trio of targets in the dust and continued his ascent. Sonic performed a Light Speed Dash through some rings, and at long last, he made it to his destination.

"Yeah…not bad!"

And though he was now at the center of the Carrier, there was still one last thing to do:

Kick Eggman's Butt.

* * *

**Mainly a Sonic and Tails chapter, with clippets of Amy and Gamma. ^^ I can safely say that the next one is all Sonic, Amy, and Gamma though, and also another one of my favorites. And before anyone asks, I may have put in a little bit of Sonic X in here, but only to make it seem fuller. Bonus points if you can guess where! ;)**


	18. Three Doses of Confrontation

Open Your Heart

Chapter 17: Three Doses of Confrontation

In response to Sonic's question, yes, there WERE more people on the Egg Carrier- Gamma and (soon) Amy, the only ones still with missions of their own. And while Amy was flittering around trying to locate the rest of Birdie's family (because she hadn't reached the Carrier yet) , Gamma was on a search, destroy, and save mission for his "brothers", and he confirmed that Zeta WAS somewhere in the Hot Shelter.

"Must…find…105 Zeta…" he said in his trademark robotic voice. Gamma allowed nothing stand in his way while marching through the winding paths of the Egg Carrier, far from Amy and on the opposite side of where both Sonic and Amy had entered. He worked his way through gears, endured deep falls, and brought down walls. The place wasn't called the Hot Shelter for nothing- Gamma felt as if his metal plating would melt off! But lucky for him, it didn't take too long to find Zeta, who was in an arena-type room, almost waiting for Gamma.

"Gamma…" Zeta bleated.

"Zeta…friend…must save…"

Zeta suddenly started sparking and aimed a weapon at Gamma. Gamma, now knowing the routine, jetted out of the way of the onslaught and countered with his own blaster. Zeta lurched, now with a gaping hole in his exterior, but certainly not giving up. The two robots were fully head to head, both firing arms and nearly blowing up the room. Zeta was unable to move around the room like Gamma could, but he had blasters and missiles coming from all directions. Gamma just weaved through the projectiles and landed a hit whenever he could. Just like the robots before him, Zeta was finished off all too easily. Gamma could only watch as Zeta's head blew off, and the rest of him erupted in a large, bright explosion.

"E-105 Zeta-rescue complete!" He then watched as another Birdie flew out, looking quite pleased. Gamma would've smiled, but he obviously couldn't, and he had other things on his 'mind'. The robot didn't speak again until he was back on the Sky Deck. "Units remaining…"

He had the same flashback of Beta being hooked up and taken apart. And yet…there was still another robot that needed to be saved. He had a vision of…himself. Gamma actually clenched his fist, stared at it with uncertainty, and also muttered:

"Gamma…"

Just then, a rocket noise was heard overhead, and Gamma's sound-detectors or whatever quickly turned to the source- Beta, now escaped from his 'prison'. He looked different-upgraded, and Gamma knew when he fought Beta, it would be different than the others…one way, or another.

Gamma wasted no time in going after his "brother." "Beta…"

E-102 zoomed through the deck, not taking too long to reach Beta since he was pretty fast, and the crashed carrier's deck wasn't all that big-the inside was a different story. Gamma kept going until he reached the green platform where Sonic, Knuckles, and kinda Big fought Chaos 6. Beta WAS waiting for him.

"Beta…" Gamma repeated. Beta just hovered around. Unlike the others, Beta didn't instantly begin attacking. For some reason, Gamma didn't want to attack either. However he still tried, but Beta threw up a rainbow colored shield and charged at Gamma. His newly acquired claw that extended from his arm did a bit of damage to Gamma. Gamma quickly moved behind Beta while he was distracted and blasted away. Beta whirled around and sent out a dozen different missiles, but none hit Gamma as he had changed modes at the last second. Beta charged up his power move again, allowing more open shots for Gamma, and rushed again. Gamma now knew his tricks and moved away, continuing to blast.

"What?"

Beta suddenly rised into the air and aimed another attack at Gamma. Gamma didn't know what it was so he just frantically roamed around the arena. Beta unleashed the beam he'd been storing up until it crashed onto the platform in the shape of a small dome. Gamma had been lucky enough to have been on the other side.

Beta swooped back down and became surrounded by him rainbow force field again, not missing a beat when he charged at Gamma once again. Gamma, once again, dodged just in time and turned around to start firing madly. Beta hummed deeply; he jetted to the right and unleashed missiles unto Gamma. Gamma was struck by one but didn't cease his fire on his 'brother'. Another buzz emitted from beta as he took off into the air again. Gamma, in truth, was getting tired of his repetitive patterns, but scooted out of the way of a yellow laser none the less. That didn't mean he still wasn't tough. Beat hardly needed time to charge for the next one- he just came back down and whacked Gamma with his steel-plated arm. Gamma's head began to spin, yet he still aimed for Beta and landed a few blows. He charged at Beta, but Beta just disappeared and reappeared in the air-again.

"Does not compute."

Beta would've smirked as he shot off several beams. Sure, they weren't as strong as one fully charged one, but several small ones were still just as deadly, and it certainly made it harder for Gamma to avoid. Gamma knew, as he did his best to swerve through the yellow explosions, that Beta was wearing down. Problem was, so was he. Beat even burst in blue electricity when he launched a final beam, this one bigger than the others! Gamma took shelter at the very edge, but with beta coming in to knock him silly it might not've been the best idea…

Gamma saved himself with his Jet Booster, then held up his weapon to look intimidating. Beta just cast another barrage of missile while giving a soulless glare to Gamma. Gamma also didn't look away while blowing up all the missiles before they could even reach him. Beta went nuts with the missiles; every time Gamma'd take out a round, Beta would fire up another. Once Beta had his fun with that, he rose up once more and starting going crazy with the beams!

Now Gamma knew for sure Beta was wearing down- it was the usual instinct to fight as hard as you could when you were about to be beaten, whether animal or robot. He just wished beta would come down so Gamma could get it over with. When beta returned into his reach, gamma went mad with ammo of his own, but Beta put up that rainbow shield and Gamma had no choice but to get out of the way. The good part about that was Gamma had a decent angle to finally, finally, save 101-Beta.

"Mission complete."

Beta exploded inwardly, shook violently, then collapsed lifelessly onto the ground. Gamma trotted over to retrieve the bird, but to his shock, Beta jumped up and blast Gamma right across the platform. He hit Gama in the front, and the leg, and now E-102 was having trouble staying standing. The mere strength of the last futile effort sent beat right back down again, vibrating around like he was suffering a seizure. This time, he fully did explode-in a red blast, different from the others- and released one of the birds that was on Birdie's picture.

Gamma just turned around and walked a few steps, not making a sound. The bird curiously looked into Gamma's eyes, and briefly he froze. When he started moving again, his vision was constantly going fuzzy and sometimes even pure black. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Gamma collapsed. He envisioned that same picture of the bird family, and that yellow bird was no doubt the same. The blue one was in Amy's possession, but that red one? It certainly wasn't with Delta, Epsilon, or Zeta!

So…that only meant…

Gamma turned very slightly before falling completely on the ground, side first. Just like his brothers before, Gamma suddenly lit up in that very same light. The yellow bird was, at the moment, sadly floating off, but stopped when he heard Gamma's explosion. It was red, like Beta's, but much, much, bigger- and brighter.

When that yellow bird finally turned around, the reddish pink bird was happily flying up next to him.

. . .

Sonic, after taking a few minutes to fully scan the place, located the area where Eggman supposedly ended up. He rushed through the tunnel, leapt over and edge, and struck a fighting pose. Eggman was definitely there- and naturally, there was a machine to go with him.

"Well, if it isn't my pal Sonic!" Eggman exclaimed in a sarcastic friendly manner. "I'm surprised you made it this far!"

Sonic just scowled- he would've like to retort back to that, but Eggman had pulled into his creation…which turned out to be a huge snake that Sonic couldn't for the life of him figure out how, when, or why Eggman had built it and left it lying around in the first place.

"Hold it right there, Eggman!" Sonic shouted anyway, not knowing whether the doctor could hear him or not. Eggman apparently didn't "hold it" and crashed through the roof of wherever they were now, sending bits and pieces downward like the very sky was falling. Sonic easily avoided the debris and hitched a ride on a rocket. A small one, but it was still a rocket. If Sonic wasn't chasing after Eggman, he would've cheered at the potential fun he could've been having.

When his ride went as high as it could go before exploding, Sonic let go and landed perfectly on another platform. This one wasn't floating, but it was simply odd -or not very odd- that Eggman had led him to…wherever they were. Sonic was rapidly losing track.

"How will this snake-bot really benefit you?" Sonic sneered. "All you're going to get of out it is your butt kicked- again!"

Eggman held back a laugh. "What I plan to benefit with my Egg Viper is your defeat!"

"You tried that with Chaos 6- I'm still here, aren't I?"

"Sometimes Sonic, I swear I've killed you over and over and yet you're still here-dead, but still here…"

Sonic smirked. "And I'll never tell you how I manage-and I can well assure you: I'm 100% alive and cobalt, baby!"

Eggman snorted then climbed back down into the Viper. It started flying around the room -because snakes really do that, you know, Sonic thought to himself- and looking for the best place to attack Sonic from. Sonic was pretty much limited to a certain area of the room, not being able to do much more than run up and down several times.

"At least, until Eggman tells me to-"

"Get a load of this!"

"Yep! That'd be the cue!"

The viper swooped dangerously closer to the edge of Sonic's platform, firing two rounds of red-orange lasers. Sonic's speed had saved him with a few quick jumps, but still…how was he going to attack the snake-which was really more of a dragon, Sonic thought personally- without completely being thrown off by an unexpected twist in his foe's movements?

While Sonic was pondering, Eggman unleashed another round of lasers. Sonic ducked and hurdled over them, not being quite so slick and getting a few quills taken in the process. The hyperactive hedgehog instantly froze and tended to his charred spike. Eggman chose this time to half-park the Viper, and have the nerve to just literally open himself wide for attack, just to laugh. Sonic smirked, mentally thanking Eggman for answering his questions, and threw himself straight into the machine's now open weak point.

"No way! I can't believe this!" Eggman wailed as the Viper went flying back into the closet wall, a few parts being blown up in the process. Sonic flat-out laughed.

"Did you really think exposing yourself to laugh at me was a good idea? You're only hurting yourself- literally!"

Eggman growled and disappeared from view once more, sending his snake-dragon on he laser rampage again. Sonic was a bit more careful this time around, but still attempted a backflip and several other tricks over the rays. Another time he stood right where they were aiming, then just barely ran out of their reach as if to tease the doctor-which he succeeded at doing.

"You little-" Springing back out, Eggman was obviously outraged his invention that took him only slightly less time to make than the Egg Carrier was not doing what it was created to do- get rid of Sonic. But then again, none of his inventions seemed to do that… in an attempt to squash Sonic, he'd pulled back on the Viper, revealing a flashing green button. Sonic flashed again- Hm, wonder what THAT did?

Sonic wouldn't know; he might've been fast, but the first thing he need to speed from was another oncoming laser, and Eggman moved right after that. At least Sonic knew where the robot's possible pressure point was. Eggman began to laugh again, but moved backward. The snake then lined up the three green buttons in a stair formation- Sonic shook his head. Eggman was making this too easy!

"See if you can make it through here, Sonic!" Eggman dared.

"Make it through what? This ticket you've given me to defeat you?"

He hurled himself at the first green button, then spin dashed the second, homed in on third, and finished off with a devastating kick to Eggman.

"Woah-"

"Heh heh…"

Sonic did an acrobatic flip in the air after pushing off, doing a backflip and landing on the platform again without any difficulty. Unfortunately, the Viper wasn't finished, but as usual, it'd be a piece of cake to trash. Eggman used the lasers again; Sonic yawned and practically stepped over them. Just as Sonic was about to say the doctor was boring him, the Viper went upright and targeted Sonic. Sonic didn't see it coming and was hit by a large blast that could be compared to Beta's.

"Whoa!"

Sonic spiraled in the air, nearly falling off the edge if his quick reflexes hadn't grabbed the bar.

"I'm really glad I didn't say anything-I got punished enough for just thinking cocky thoughts!"

Eggman let out his chortle again and did the button-line up move, as Sonic was now going to call it. He quickly heaved himself over the bar with one arm, then sprinted toward the buttons.

"Oh no you don't!"

"What are you talking about?" Eggman sneered. "I haven't done anything but try to hit you and you keep shrugging it off like it's a simple game of rock, paper, scissors! I'm charging up a blast now that you can't even outrun in this closed off area!"

Sonic's eyes went wide and confused as he headed for the first button. "…what are you talkin' about! You DID hit me- I went flying over the edge with only a hand to hang onto my life for me! And now you're going on about some blast that would probably be better for you if I didn't know about-"

"Now you listen here hedgehog-"

Sonic crashed into Eggman's seat again and shook his head. "Nah, I'm getting kinda tired of your rants, anyway…you'll probably start up the Eggman-Robuttnik thing again…"

Sonic could see out of the corner of his eyes the glare Eggman had given him before he closed back up in the Viper.

"Lasers won't work, if you think taking out your anger with those'll help!"

Eggman ignored the comment-or just couldn't hear- as he shot another round of lasers at Sonic. Sonic didn't even need to jump- he curled up in a ball and rolled onto the ground where the lasers went too high to touch the platform. Sonic actually stood up laughing at how simple it was to dodge and started to pace, until he couldn't tell where the Egg Viper was. For once, he froze. Then, behind him, a whirling sound-and the sound of lasers. One zapped his tail, and Sonic spun around fast enough to see the Viper shooting straight down the platform. Sonic yelped and ran toward the Viper, rather than away, and jumped over his death whenever necessary. The Viper then flew harmlessly over his head, then Eggman positioned it in the green-button line-up move.

"You-" One. "-really-" two. "-need to-" three. "-Get a new strategy already!"

This attack was a little harder than the first ones, and Eggman went crashing into the walls, much, much harder than before. Sonic shrugged on his way back down and sighed.

"But, why do I try? You don't seem to take my advice any other time…"

Eggman hardly managed to remove the Viper from its new imprint in the wall, but when he did- guess what? Same old strategy. Sonic rolled his eyes and almost wanted to get hit by the laser- it'd be better than jumping over it like a jump rope and squealing, "Whee!"

"Oh look, the ol' go down the platform again…" Sonic started when he saw the Viper at the side again, but this time, it didn't start firing lasers. The two whirling round parts on the side suddenly moved forward and positioned themselves like-

"Spinning razor blades…" Eggman's voice could be heard chuckling. "…you don't want me to add the "of death or doom" part…"

"I'll admit Eggman- you sure had me fooled! But this'll still probably be added into the mix…"

"You little-"

"Do you_ ever _plan on finishing that sentence every time you say it, or do you enjoy calling people 'little'?"

Sonic could envision Eggman's eyes narrowing with pure disgust. "You. Don't. Want. Me. To."

"Wow, someone woke up on the wrong side of the egg carton!"

Eggman's roar rang out and echoed throughout their battling area and charged the Viper's razors forward at a pretty decent speed. Sonic had only a few moments to say "Whuh-oh!" and bend over backward from being chopped in half. When he recovered from the first one, he suddenly devised an idea. The second came around, and Sonic jumped onto it. As planned, it took him straight to Eggman-and his furious expression- and let loose. Another explosion represented the damage Sonic dealt, and Eggman was flying away after that.

"All systems-full power!"

Sonic had to wonder if some of his machines were voice activated. He didn't think about that long, because "full power" was about to do full damage on him. The Viper had crashed head first into one part of the platform and knocked it clean off, taking away even more of Sonic's running room.

"It's no use! Give up!" Eggman bellowed as he sent another razor toward Sonic. Sonic jumped onto it and laughed hysterically before getting serious and replying.

"Dude. I'm Sonic the Hedgehog. One thing you should know after 5 years of battling me-I do NOT give up! Ever!"

Another fatal hit-which was super effective!- sent Eggman colliding into another wall, and Sonic came to the conclusion that full power really didn't change the way Eggman fought. The Egg Viper was definitely getting low on strength now- it blew another section of the floor off, and Eggman only ever repeated a tactic twice if he was getting desperate.

"Grh! He's got gonna get away with this!"

"The feeling is mutual…"

When that spinning blade platform thing came back, Sonic jumped onto it in a surfing position, smirking all the while, and one simply foot to the bot was all it took to set the Egg Viper on fire with destruction, and simultaneously sending it into the walls.

"No way! I-"

"-can't believe this, blah blah bla…yeah, I wouldn't believe the amount of times I've been beaten by me either."

However, what was left of the Egg Viper just ping-ponged from one wall into the other, and the odd thing was, the form it now had looked slightly like a missile…

_"Watch out! He's up to something…"_

Tikal. That was the first time Sonic had heard her voice in a while. But yeah, he agreed- Eggman certainly should've been blown to smithereens already. The sparkle of a spirit flew away-Sonic hadn't even realized when she arrived- and Eggman was still thrashing into the walls. But soon enough, the last of the machine fell into the never-ending drop of wherever they were, and detonated into several orange pillars of power.

Sonic smiled at the aftermath- he wasn't happy about blowing someone up, but the thought of defeating Eggman again always gave him a warm fuzzy.

"Hey, I'll play with you some other time!"

And yet, despite the fact he was purely confident, there was the nagging feeling in the back of his head…he had a feeling that he needed to get out and find him. As Sonic started running, his mind started racing also.

If Eggman didn't have any surprise attack with the Egg Viper…then what WAS he up to?

. . .

When Amy reached the Egg Carrier, after a long trek through Mystic Ruins getting away from Eggman's base, she ended up on the very platform where Gamma 'died'. But she'd never know- nothing of Gamma was left. However, there was something eerie about the place, Amy realized as she looked around. This feeling was momentarily cast aside as Birdie suddenly flew off, then came back with his family.

"Yay! It's them!" she squealed excitedly. As they happily came down to join her, something targeted Birdie, and struck him out of the air. Amy covered up her gasp and rushed over to her friend. "Oh no! Are you okay?"

It wasn't until she felt like she was being watched that she noticed Zero was right behind her.

"You idiot! How could you do this?" Amy was furious now. She whipped out her hammer and swung at Zero like he was a golf ball. Zero came crashing back down, quite painfully for a robot, but Amy wasn't done. She struck battle pose and growled, "Now you're gonna get it!"

It was about time she'd shown that robot stalker of hers a lesson! Amy would've minded if he'd just disappeared altogether- but after what he did to Birdie, man, she wouldn't happy until she smashed every spark of electricity that flowed through every bolt of his being! Zero definitely didn't know what he was up against. He scanned the area for Amy and stopped to attack, but Amy beat him to the punch -or, in her case, the mighty swing from her hammer forcing him into a electric fence. Zero was so furious he literally flipped his lid, which Amy then proceeded to bash.

"How do you like being struck!"

Zero slammed the ground, slamming Amy in the process yet she was still strong.

"Is that all you've got? Because that's not all I've got, and I've got even more when I'm mad!"

Zero kept trying to do him smashing move- Amy. Would. Not. Let. Him. With every slight move he made would be another hammer bash from Amy and another inch closer to that terrifying electric fence.

"Sonic was right- you're nothing but a clunker!" Amy howled when he made contact with the fence again and began to bash once more. "Every robot Eggman needs to build needs to be more like Gamma, not you, you…stalking bird injurer!"

Talk about blind fury- Amy hardly knew what she was saying, but she certainly needed an outlet. Good thing Zero was around. Zero attempted to get up, but Amy smacked him tight back again and hit his weak point once more. After all Zero had done, she wasn't giving him any chances or showing him any mercy! However, Zero managed to stop himself just in time to shove Amy out of the way and made his way to the middle of the area. He suddenly started spinning around, arms outstretched and sparking with electricity, and suddenly it was a game of deadly helicopter.

"Very clever," Amy snorted, jumping over the wires with ease. "Too bad I'm an expert jump roper!"

Zero, after seeing him tactic wasn't working, pulled his arms back in. Amy swooped in like a ninja and knocked him backward several feet.

"It's sad- I'm telling the truth when I say I'm going to bash your brains out."

Amy dealt another deadly blow with her mallet; Zero toppled without a choice into the electricity, again. The last sight he'd ever see was an angry little girl with a hammer held high above her head.

Zero started glowing like the other robots, but his explosion was more like all of his pieces bursting part and scattering everywhere- there was no impressive display in his defeat. Amy stood back far enough to just miss the effects of the explosion.

"See! I can do this!"

She watched with pride- she beat up a robot! An Eggman robot! Wait until she told Sonic! But for once, he really wasn't on her mind right now.

The other birds were surrounding Birdie, hoping for the best, expecting the worst. Amy walked over and did her own share of praying.

"Please wake up Birdie…"

She picked him up and held him in her arms. After all this trouble…it'd all be for nothing if he didn't wake up.

"Are…you okay? Can you fly?"

As if it was a miracle, Birdie's eyes fluttered open and it suddenly took off into the air. Amy and the other two birds watched in relief- until Birdie suddenly dropped. Amy opened her mouth, said nothing, and ran to the edge. Birdie had saved himself, thank goodness, and was now flying with his family. They crowed Amy as if to thank her. She just waved her hands excitedly and laughed.

"You did it! Now you three can live in peace again!"

The bird trio flew off with Amy's blessing, all three knowing there'd be no way to repay her for all that she had done. With one last glance, they finally, and officially, flew away. Amy actually smiled- the only other time she could ever smile genuinely anymore was when she was with Sonic, so this was a good thing.

"I'm so happy…I'm going to try my best, too!" she started making her way off the Egg Carrier. "Just watch me! I'll make that Sonic respect me! And by that time, it's gonna be too late!"

Amy laughed to herself- a genuine, happy laugh- and knew something brighter was on the horizon.

* * *

**What are the odds- Amy rounds off the "official" story. With the next chapter, we begin the Last Story! I can't remember if it's the next one or the one after that's super short (with the not-super-short one being decently long) but I'll probably post them within the same week because I'm so nice. ^^**


	19. Could This Not Be Over?

Open Your Heart

Chapter 18: Could This Not Be Over?

Everyone had gone back to their normal ways of life, more or less after the Egg Carrier incident, but everyone -Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles especially- forgot three very, very important things-not that they had known, but still important none the less.

One: The Tornado 2 was crash-landed by Big in Mystic Ruins -where no one really knew where it was at.

Two: The Tornado 2 contained the seventh Chaos Emerald -the one that Knuckles didn't have.

Three: Chaos was never officially pronounced defeated…

. . .

Eggman was beyond ticked, egged, annoyed, irritated, and any other word you could think of to describe the certain feeling. He was currently driving away from his base and growling to himself.

"Ooh, I hate that Sonic…he always seems to get in my way! But he can't spoil my master plan…" he slightly smirked at the last part- he had spoken of it once, maybe twice, but the fools were too focused with their own situation to even give a thought to what else Eggman might've been planning. Now with something to perk him up slightly, Eggman kept driving until he came to a small, blue puddle in the middle of the path. A very familiar one at that.

"Chaos! ?"

. . .

"The Master Emerald is where it belongs!" Knuckles exclaimed to himself, since no one was around to share the glorious fact with. He would've smiled, but there was still another issue. "Yet Angel Island is still falling…this doesn't make any sense."

Knuckles turned to stare at the Master Emerald, still trying to put together a solution. "Maybe…those Chaos Emeralds that I brought back with me…have something to do with what's happening." The next thought made him slightly twitch. "I'll take them to Sonic for his advice."

He'd admit it- he may have been guardian of the Master Emerald and knew that shiny big rock from the inside out, but Sonic had more experience with the Chaos Emeralds than he probably ever would have. But before Knuckles even had the chance to make that choice, he heard a small crash- and Eggman dumped out of his vehicle on the ground.

"Eggman!"

Knuckles cautiously ran down to him, still a little sore about being tricked.

"This is terrible!" Eggman wheezed. "Ch-Chaos is…"

"Is what?" Knuckles said in a sharp voice- he was the one who had beaten Chaos, once and for all, and if something was up, there was no doubt he'd feel partially responsible.

Too bad for Knuckles he didn't notice the puddle of goo cast off to the side.

. . .

And while that was going on, Sonic was sitting lazily under a tree, and you would have never guess that was still mulling about Eggman. Tikal had said…but then why didn't…was there something he was missing?

Sonic yawned and tried to think the opposite. "Guess Eggman learned his lesson. Yup. And maybe I'll take another vacation somewhere."

Ooh, _that_ sounded pleasing!

"SONIC!"

Not that.

Tails was scrambling up to him, nearly tripping over his own two feet.

"Hey Tails! Did you find the Tornado 2?"

Tails shook his head with disgust, as if that was the last thing he needed to think about. "Never mind THAT. Get up and follow me."

"Wow…this must be serious!"

"Angel Island is falling again!"

Sonic's eyes widened and he felt his quills stick out. "What? No way!" Sonic was up on his feet in a flash. "Who blew it this time?"

"I don't know, but we'd better hurry!"

. . .

Just like Tails had said- Angel Island crashed into the ocean once more, sending another vigorous wave of force and water high into the air. Knuckles definitely wasn't happy about that….

. ..

The duo ran to where Angel Island had fallen the first time, since they both knew it hadn't moved very much since it got back up there. When they reached it, it wasn't too surprising to see Knuckles on the ground, but Eggman? When Sonic and Tails braked at the sight of them, Knuckles looked up.

It was the most sorrowful, apologetic, and probably most pitiful look an echidna could ever have, especially when he lost a bit of his honor- and double especially when it was in front of Sonic the Hedgehog.

"Sonic…" Knuckles began. "Uuhhh…sorry…"

"Knuckles…and Eggman…" Sonic wanted to think Eggman was still on with something, but he was just as weak as Knuckles was. Knuckles learned the hard way that Eggman wasn't kidding. "What happened here?"

"He stole my Chaos Emeralds…and Chaos…is still alive!"

Sonic nearly fainted- and it took a lot to get Sonic to _barely_ do that. "What!"

Eggman grunted and pushed himself up off the ground. "Urgh…he's not gonna get away with this!"

The doctor started running off and jumped into his ship instantly. Knuckles, still sprawled on the ground, reached out a hand to stop him.

"Hey, Eggman! Wait up!" Eggman ignored Knuckles and blasted away. The echidna shook his head and turned to the hedgehog. "Sonic. Chaos is a fearsome beast! If he gets that last Chaos Emerald, we're done for!"

"No need to explain. We'll get on it! Tails?"

"Right!"

"And Knuckles…"

Knuckles lifted his head to show he was listening.

"No need to apologize. It's really not your fault."

Knuckles couldn't say anything in return, because Tikal chose this point to give Sonic one last vision.

"Wha-?" He covered his eyes from the sudden blinding light. "Aw jeez!"

. . .

"This place…it looks familiar!" Sonic exclaimed when his pupils weren't so tiny he was blind. Of course it was familiar- it was the same scene as what he had been shown before, only this time, he was at the point right before. "It's not a dream after all!"

He rushed up to the Master Emerald altar, seeing that it was still in flames, but Tikal wasn't on the ground dying and there was an angry mob in front of the emerald.

"Get out of my way!" growled the deep voice of the echidnian chief. Apparently Tikal was blocking them, because Sonic heard her yelp, "No way!"

"Did you hear what I said?"

"I won't obey!"

"We need those seven emeralds to give us power! It's power for the people…and they are your people too! We must get those emeralds!"

"Greed is our enemy! Once it starts, you will always want more! Please don't do this! I beg you!"

Tikal's pleaful words were tossed to the side. "Bah! I don't listen to the words of a child! Ready, men! Charge!"

The tribe of echidnas growled out rapid cheers of war as they ran straight at Tikal, who was still standing with her arms spread wide. Her voice quivered ever-so slightly as she cried, "Father!"

She didn't move- and they didn't avoid her. Tikal was knocked unconscious to the ground while the warriors continued to stampede to the Master Emerald altar. They trampled over the innocent Chao, the very thought of power taking over their minds. The water surrounding the altar shook, the very Chaos Emerald rising in a halo around the Master Emerald by themselves, and all Chaos was let loose- literally.

The echidnas jerked to a stop when they reached the top of the altar- a blue puddle that happened to splash out of the waster was suddenly taking on a humanoid shape- or, it it's case, a mutant Chao-oid shape.

Chaos. Negativity influenced him greatly. Tikal had kept her promise, she had tried to guard the Master Emerald and keep the Chao safe. How dare those ruthless monsters just stomp right over her! And the Chao themselves…the very thought made Chaos boil. His eyes were green with anger, and that was already enough to scare off some "brave and strong warriors".

"Aaaaagh! It's a monster!" one cried.

"Noooooo!"

Chaos was shaking as he absorbed the power of the Chaos Emeralds, ready to take out his revenge.

At least, he absorbed the negative power…

"Whoa…so THAT'S how it all happened…" Sonic trailed, now continuing to run up to the altar. Chaos wasn't really the bad guy- it was his actions that were just bad, despite the fact those echidnas did deserve it. Sonic gave a small smile- Knuckles would surely knock him out if he knew he had even thought such a thing! Then Tikal crawled back into his mind, and he was at her side in a flash.

"Hey, are you all right?"

"Uh…I think so…" Tikal sounded a little off, but she was still able to hold herself up. She brought up her head to see if the altar was okay and gasped at what she saw. "Oh my gosh! No!…No!… No!…."

She now stood up, clutching her arm. Chaos…Chaos was gone! Tikal rushed toward the Master Emerald, Sonic reaching after her and calling, "Wait up!"

It was easy to catch up with her, but Sonic almost didn't want to! Chaos…he really was the God of Destruction, wasn't he? He seemed so harmless when he had no Chaos Emeralds in his possession…but he got bigger and stronger with the addition of every one!

What would happen if he got all seven? Sonic shoved that thought away and safely reached Tikal from a good distance. She was in the middle of something important, he could tell.

"The 7 Emeralds are the servers, chaos is power, enriched by the heart, the controller serves to unify the chaos!" Tikal gasped, between the shock of something was happening and the fact that she realized the hidden message of the chant ."The 7 Emeralds can change our thoughts into power! If this Emerald controls that power…please, you must stop him!"

She spread her arms wide as the Master Emerald began to shine.

Sonic definitely wasn't dreaming.

…

"Sonic? Wake up!"

Sonic jolted, being taken back to where he was before Tikal had given him that vision. Or, at least from Tails' perspective, woken up.

"Ahh…I was on a snooze cruise, I guess!"

But he knew he didn't imagine that.

Tails had on a look of fear before brightening up a little. "Good thing you're okay! You just sorta conked out there. Knuckles left already. Come! We gotta go after the last Emerald!"

Sonic was still a little out of it, but got ready to run. "Uuhh…lead the way."

Sonic didn't have a clue where it was, until Tails said, "It should still be onboard the Tornado 2!"

_"Ta da!" Tails suddenly cried, snapping Sonic out of his brief trance. He brought out the one thing he managed to salvage from his plane crash- a very bright purple crystal. Sonic's jaw dropped._

_"Woah! A Chaos Emerald?"_

_"Yup. I just happened to find one of the seven emeralds during one of my test flights. This thing's got unlimited power ya know! So I figured, "Why not use it to power up my plane?" Super charged!"_

_…_

_Tails just blinked. "Weird. Now where was I? Oh yeah, the Chaos Emerald- perfect!"_

_He grinned and pulled out the red Emerald he managed to receive._

_"This'll get my Tornado 2 up and rarin' to go!"_

_Tails happily ran off. He couldn't wait to see the look on Sonic's face when he pulled up with a plane he named after the original! His workshop was conveniently up a hill not to far away, and he dramatically stood at the front of it. Perhaps it was fate he landed in Mystic Ruins separated by Sonic!_

_Tails took a deep breath. "The time has come at last! This new plane should work a lot better. I've ironed out most of the problems, so, here it goes! Emerald, do your stuff!"_

_…_

_Not too far from where Sonic had crashed after the Carrier fell, Big and Froggy arrived on a ledge jetting out of a cliff. The Tornado 2 was nose first in the ground, now officially unable to be flown. They could see the temple Sonic went into, plus the rest of the ruins, and Big smiled. He and Froggy climbed down from the ledge and headed to the nearest river, Big instantly throwing his pole into the water. Froggy let out a noise that sounded like a laugh when Big fell over trying to reel in a fish._

_The kidnapping of Froggy was over, and Big had some fishing to catch up on. It was all about them now, even though Big had made a new friend or two. It was just like old times, when they were living in paradise._

"Duh."

Now all they had to do was find it. Sonic knew the Tornado 2 was somewhere in Mystic Ruins- he had seen Big headed for the forest when he was falling from the Egg Carrier- so at least it wasn't too far away! And to get there even faster- they weren't taking the train. The duo just ran straight into Mystic Ruins, and almost as quickly as they got there, they had found it.

Tails instantly got excited at the sight of his plane. "Look! It's the Tornado 2!"

"Yeah, so let's get the Chaos Emerald and leave!"

_"Hmph- how come THAT plane didn't break in half?"_

Sonic shook away his thoughts- the Tornado 1 was gone- and raced over to retrieve the Emerald. He had only gone three steps when the equivalent of a waterfall came washing down on the plane.

"What!"

When the "waterfall" disappeared, it revealed the Tornado 2 broken in half (Sonic mentally smacked himself) and the fact the Chaos Emerald was gone! The force of the random water had knocked Tails down and flooded a good amount of the forest. Sonic clenched his fist- it wasn't rocket science to figure out who was behind that one!

"No! He's got the last Chaos Emerald!"

Tails stood up and shook off the water. "Now what do we do?"

For once, Sonic really didn't know.

* * *

**Second-to-last chapter goes up tomorrow! ^^**


	20. The Chaos is Raining Down

Open Your Heart

Chapter 19: The Chaos is Raining Down

Station Square was in a peaceful state- everyone was happily going about their lives, the sky was a beautiful blue with a few clouds, and no threats were laid upon the city-yet.

Life went on, busy city life was happening with people rushing and cars zooming by. Unknown to them, there was unusual activity in the sewers- water was sloshing around a lot more than it usually would have. The sloshing quickly turned into rapid waves.

The people just walked to where they were going above the surface, still unaware of the evil lurking beneath. A car drove over a manhole- and the lid suddenly began rattling. Did anyone notice that? No. Did anyone notice the sudden spout of water erupting out of it and sending that very same lid 20 feet away? You better believe it. Which also meant they were going to notice the other 20 manholes in the street explode with water too.

"AAAAAHHHH!"

Not only did the sewers erupt- the entire road cracked from the water pressure. Buildings were filled to the brim with water and also burst from the overcapacity. The people knew instantly to evacuate- which was great, since the very same water started to submerge the streets and deserted cars under 1000 foot waves.

Shame no one saw the disaster coming- poor Station Square was now left in ruins. Skyscrapers had fallen onto one another, everything was broken, burst, or destroyed, and the entire city was covered in water. Yet, one building still spewed the liquid until one large blast emerged; then, a section of water stayed suspended in the air. What could be more odd about the "suspending water"?

It was Perfect Chaos' new lizard head.

"AROOOOOOOO!"

. . .

Sonic stood on a road that had miraculously stayed above Chaos' deadly waves, just staring at the creature.

_"Oh, trust me, I WANT to stop it…but one-it's made of water, and that alone gives me a reason to be terrified, and two- how CAN I stop it? I can't exactly just swim up there and give him a punch!"_

He figured the weak point was still its head- that was one thing that never changed. but, again, how was Sonic to get up there? It was a pretty hopeless situation.

"If I wasn't just dreaming, that monster is a real menace!" Sonic growled. The only thing he could really do was just voice his thoughts- though that wasn't helping. And that annoying sound of a large machine in the background wasn't doing justice either…Sonic glanced over his shoulder to see where it was coming from, and was surprised to see- "Eggman! Looks like he's after Chaos too!"

It was true. Eggman was flying up in a large fortress similar to the Egg Carrier- probably the Egg Carrier 2!

"The Egg Carrier 2 was made because something like this would happen…" Eggman murmured to himself. He then shouted down to Chaos. "You have defied your master, stupid beast. Now you must be destroyed at all costs!"

Eggman fired ammo at it- Sonic already knew bullets and the such wouldn't work from experience- yet Chaos wasn't phased. He was water, after all. To counter Eggman's pathetic attack, Chaos charged up a blue-purple-whitish beam and blasted it at the Egg Carrier 2. With one hit, the might fortress went down.

Eggman hit the eject button at the last minute, only to be propelled into the sky in that driving pod of his. "AARRGGHHHH!"

Sonic, after seeing THAT display, officially got serious. "I've had enough! Who do you think you are anyway?"

Oh, what was the point? There was no way Sonic could beat that…scratch that-Sonic knew he _could;_ he just needed a_ way_! As if his prayers had been answered, the familiar red sparkle came flying down out of the sky and landed in Sonic's hand.

"Oh…it's you!" Sonic had pieced everything together. "The one…who sealed Chaos…in the Master Emerald! Tikal!"

That was why it had shattered when Chaos appeared. That was why Tikal had shown everyone what Chaos was like. That was why Chaos was as angry as he was then.

Sonic almost expected her to give him another vision, but instead, she turned into her echidna form.

"My heart has always been in the Master Emerald, along with Chaos'. Now he's filled with anger and sadness. And if this goes on, he'll eventually destroy the world, like he almost did before!"

Sonic and Tikal stared up at Chaos- he had finished sucking up the Emerald's power and scattered them across the land. He certainly didn't need them anymore. The dark blue Chaos Emerald landed at their feet, sparking for awhile before simply going dull. Tikal cringed at the sight.

"Look! He's absorbed the Emeralds' power! He must be sealed in the Master Emerald, now!"

"How can that help?" Sonic asked. "It won't change how he feels inside, will it? His heart will still remain in turmoil…and his anger just won't vanish! He'll just be trapped forever!"

"What choice do we have?" Tikal moaned sadly. Sonic closed his eyes and tilted his head downward. That was what he'd been thinking, but…even if he could defeat that monster, Sonic would hate himself knowing it'd be trapped in misery forever! As the two thought over the situation, Big the Cat suddenly appeared at the Square. Then Tails, then Knuckles, and Amy! They had all ended up next to Chaos Emeralds…

"Hey, Sonic!" Amy cried, running up to him.

"Amy…"

"Here, take this!" she cried excitedly, holding out the Emerald she found eagerly. Before Sonic could reply, Tails and Knuckles flew in too. Tails had one emerald while Knuckles had four also. Sonic grinned and waved at them.

"Hey guys! What's up?" he called casually, as if Chaos wasn't trying to destroy the world.

"Chaos only used the negative power of the emeralds…" Tails explained. "Sonic, you should be able to harness their real power!"

"As much as I'd hate to admit it…I think Tails is right about this…" Knuckles stated. "Here, you take them- you're more experienced at being the hero!"

Sonic gave Knuckles a genuine smile. "Thanks, Knuckles!"

"Go Sonic!" "Yeah! Sonic!" "Sonic!" the crowds had come out of hiding and started cheering Sonic's name.

"I thought the Chaos Emeralds' power could only be awaken by hate and anger!" Tikal gasped. Tails shook his head.

"Negative forces aren't the only way to empower the Chaos Emeralds…our positive feelings towards each other can make them work too! Our hearts together form awesome power!"

Everyone came forward and gave Sonic the Chaos Emeralds, even Big, who picked up the dark blue one that had fallen and placing it neatly in the pile. Sonic grinned at everyone, then focused his energy into the Chaos Emeralds. They started floating on their own again, surrounding Sonic and also making him float as he turned a brilliant shade of gold. His quills turned up, his eyes became a bright ruby red, he smirked, and took off high into the air. Now there was no way Chaos could beat Super Sonic!

* * *

***cues Open Your Heart theme song* Oh yeah. I can't wait. Finale time! ...though you can't see it for one more teeny weeny week. :D (this chapter could've been apart of the previous one, but for some reason I thought they worked better seperately. :P)**


	21. Open Your Heart

Open Your Heart

Chapter 20: Open Your Heart

Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Big, and Tikal watched as Sonic flew away to confront Chaos.

"Ooh…do you think he'll be all right?" Amy asked. "This isn't just some robot of Eggman's- it's a God of Destruction!"

"He'll be fine, Amy…we're talking about Super Sonic here!" Knuckles scoffed.

"Yeah! Sonic'll definitely take him out!" added Tails, striking a fierce fighting pose.

Tikal was clasping her hands tightly, eyes widened as if she could do nothing but watch. "Oh, I do hope he'll be able to help Chaos…"

"I'm sure he will!" Tails said perkily. "After all, his advice to anything angry or confused is to open your heart!"

"…I hope you are right…"

. . .

"If only I could do this all the time…" Sonic pondered as he raced over the water and made waves. This was the first time he wasn't scared to death of the substance- only because he knew there was a great chance that he wouldn't end up in it. The closer he got to Chaos, the more terrifying he seemed to be, but Sonic just let it go and continued to zoom towards him. Chaos roared and cast purple beams of…power at Sonic, but with Sonic's speed enhanced even more than the norm, they were a joke!

"_Like a bolt of lightning, you'll reach maximum speed…"_ Tikal whispered to him telepathically. Sonic chuckled- like he really need to go that fast! Still, it would be fun!

"Is that really all a great God of Destruction can do?" Sonic guffawed. He charged up into Chaos, spiraling upwards like he was caught in a tornado. Sonic went for his head, and as predicted, caused him to scream out in pain. Sonic flew away while Chaos washed into another part of the city. "Well, so far he's more interesting than Eggman!"

He rushed off again, sending a tsunami of water up behind him. Sonic ran over pieces of street emerging out of the water and flew just over the water. If only Chaos wasn't around- then he could joy his temporary flight! But Chaos did need to be defeated, and even though Knuckles would disagree otherwise, it was pretty much Sonic's responsibility to do it. He rounded the corner of another set of collapsed buildings, making more water jet behind him, and actually yelped when he was nearly hit by the same beam that shot Eggman out of the sky.

"_Just_ missed me that time!"

Chaos threw his head back in rage, and Sonic didn't blame him. His anger probably surpassed any anger Knuckles could whip up any day!

"Hopefully you'll feel better when I knock your senses back into you!" Sonic told Chaos, as if he was listening, while he shot up the water-lizard once again. "YAH!"

Chaos screeched again, making the people watching cover their ears. Sonic had dealt another blow to Chaos' head and he really wasn't enjoying it. Chaos' reaction made Sonic smile.

_Chaos' fist lightly brushed against Sonic's rightmost quill. The hedgehog grabbed the fist and threw it to the ground, bringing Chaos down with it. Sonic homed in on his weak point and attacked again. Chaos grabbed his head and melted into his puddle form once more._

_"Sorry! Didn't mean to give you a headache!"_

Sonic shook his head with a sigh as he followed Chaos again. "Man, that was way back when you were easy! How long ago was that? Quite a few days, that's for sure…"

Sonic returned to lower ground do Chaos had less of a chance to see him, then skidded across the water once more. He ducked under any oncoming purple projectiles and swooped around any building that tried to topple on him. Chaos unexpectedly shot another beam out of his mouth, and instead of going left or right and risking getting a foot or two removed, Sonic went up. So did the beam.

"Hrrnnn…"

That beam was _fast_! And that was saying something! If Sonic wasn't slightly faster, he would've been zapped in half like the Egg Carrier 2! Eventually Sonic went so high that Chao couldn't tilt his aching head back any farther and snapped the laser back down.

"Yes!" came from Sonic, who was now flying back down toward Chaos. He pierced through his soggy defense- no pun intended- and shot his way back up again. Chaos thrashed around to get Sonic out before he struck his 'skull' again, but his efforts were futile. Sonic shot out the top with a wild battle cry; Chaos gave a cry of his own- one of pain. Chaos disappeared again, but he didn't go to a different spot...

. . .

Everyone watching gasped.

"Did…he beat Chaos that easily? And Already?" Knuckles gaped.

"I knew it wouldn't be hard for him…but even that's a little unbelievable!" exclaimed Tails.

Amy was throwing a fit, even though Sonic 'won'. "Oh, come on! Some God of Destruction! More like God of the Destructed! Give my Sonic more of a challenge, why don't you?"

Tikal waved a hand to get her to settle down. "I wouldn't wish for that…Perfect Chaos is not that weak! Look…"

"But…it looks bad!" cried Big. Tikal nodded.

"I know, friend. I know…"

. . .

Chaos eventually resurfaced - though nothing seemed to change, they always came back stronger…right?

"Almost don't wanna find out…" Sonic murmured under his breath, though no one was around to really hear him anyway. He jumped from one road section to another, pondering over this fight. It was too easy…and when he usually said that, he was being cocky, but he felt something was generally wrong in this situation. Now, instead of purple projectiles, they were fiery orange, and there were a lot more of them now. Chaos was even angrier than ever before, and Sonic found himself swerving and flying all over the place just to keep going. Chaos was like a firework with all the "rays" he was sending out.

"Maybe I thought too soon- as usual…" Sonic abruptly added the end of the sentence, recalling the thing with the Tornado 2. Well, Chaos certainly had stepped it up- but by how much? The answer came in the form of seven water-tornados spiraling toward Sonic and blocking his view from another laser Chaos sent out. Sonic, completely bedazzled at the moment, was swept up by one of those tornadoes and hit with the beam. The typhoon sent a weakened hedgehog flying into a building, and the building itself began to creak.

"Aw jeez…"

"RAWR!"

Sonic pushed himself off the wall, trying to pull himself back together. One hit wouldn't stop him! Despite being a bit dizzy, Sonic flew on. Chaos whipped up another laser, but Sonic dodged by actually diving under the water and 'swimming" at Chaos. His expression could be read with the confusion he ws experiencing- why in the world did he do that of all things? !

_"No time to think on that now!"_ Sonic thought, erupting out of Chaos for the fourth time in a row. Again, for the fourth time in a row, Chaos went to a whole different location. Sonic was after him faster than…well, light. Something at the back of his mind told him he needed to wrap this up fast- but that didn't mean it'd be easy. He used a road as something to push off from, now springing straight into Chaos and again taking him down from the inside out.

"ROOOOAAAAARRRR!"

Sonic cringed. "Man, do I know that sound! That's the sound of defeat-one more good hit should probably do the trick though!"

Pumping a victory fist, Sonic zipped off to finish Chaos off once and for all! He happily dodged the orange bursts again, even doing a few tricks to brighten up the occasion. He hated it when defeats were really dull.

"All right, here I-"

ZING!

The sound of that beam Chaos kept zapping echoed throughout Sonic's ear- it just missed him once again! It was so close, he could feel the energy radiating off of it. Sonic had zonked out there, unintentionally flying upwards to get away, and now he was struck by one of Chaos' tentacles that he almost thought were completely useless.

"AAAAAAAUUUGGGHHH!"

Urgh, that smarts. Even IN Super Form. Chaos had struck Sonic right in the face, and now he was slowly drifting into unconsciousness…and was going to land head first in the water.

. . .

Amy dove forward and landed on the ground, crying out in distress, "SONIC!"

"Who knew one fatal hit could take the guy out so fast?" questioned Knuckles, lost in shock.

Tails rapidly shook his head. "N-No! It's gotta be a diversion or something! Sonic never loses!"

Knuckles sighed and closed his eyes. "There is a first time for everything, you know…"

"Stop talking like that Knuckles!"

"Just preparing for the worst…"

"the worst is already upon us!" Tikal cried. "With Sonic gone, Chaos will destroy the world by washing all the life and happiness away!"

"Literally…" murmured Knuckles.

"He told me…he could do it without any problems!" Big winced.

"He told us all the same thing…" trailed Amy.

"And now look what happened…" mused Knuckles, trying hard not to show too much weakness in the form of emotions.

Tails clenched his fists tights, along with his eyes. "Come on, Sonic…please…we're all counting on you!"

. . .

Sonic floated deeper into Chaos' ocean. He was barely hanging on as it was, and any longer under the wet stuff-his one true fear- and everyone would be doomed!

~.~

_"Froggy?" Big said worriedly. "I must save Froggy!"_

_"So, he's your friend, eh?"_

_Big looked down to see Sonic smirking. There was something about that smirk…something that told Big he could trust him. "If he's your friend, I'll help you. No sweat! Just leave it to me!"_

_He took off into battle. "I'll get him back. Watch me."_

_Big stayed silent for a moment until he heard Froggy croak out. "Careful Froggy! Don't worry! We'll get you back!"_

_"Wahahahah! Now I have 6 of the Chaos Emeralds. There's only one more left to find. I even found Chaos' missing tail!"_

_"You won't get away with this, you madman!" Sonic shouted, holding up a fist._

. .

_For the first time in a long time, Big laughed._

_"Froggy! I won't let them take you away again!" he promised._

_"Go! Go on and get outta here!" Sonic ordered, interrupting his celebration. "I'll do the rest!"_

_"Oh. Okay! Thanks!" Big called. "Come, little buddy. Time to get a move on!"_

_As he walked away, Big thought about how he said he didn't know who would bother to save both him and Froggy and smiled. Apparently Sonic would._

~.~

_"Hey Sonic!" Knuckles called, rushing up to his friend eagerly. Sonic grinned._

_"There you are Knuckles! Glad you finally made it! I thought you got lost or something!"_

_"Until we meet again, Sonic!" Eggman boomed, trying to escape. Sonic gave an apologetic glance to Knuckles before chasing after Eggman._

_"Eggman…come back here!"_

_Knuckles just watched as they left. "…I'd better let Sonic handle it from here…"_

_"Yah!"_

_Sonic jumped off the edge of the Egg Carrier, landing in Eggman's getaway vehicle. Knuckles just shook his head with a light smile._

_"He'll do okay…"_

_Knuckles knew that for sure- Sonic always came out on top!_

~.~

_"No fair! I can't run as fast as you!"_

_Sonic smirked. "They don't call me the fastest thing alive for nothin' ya know!"_

_Amy rolled her eyes; Sonic stopped smiling and tapped his foot in deep thought. These thoughts were interrupted by a shriek from Amy._

_"Aah, look! Eggman's robot is on the loose!"_

_Sonic struck a fighting pose and smirked. "No problem! He's just a hunk of cheesy hardware! I'll handle that bag of bolts!"_

. .

_"Amy? Oh man, where can she be?"_

_"Sonic, help!"_

_Sonic looked up to see his fears realized: Amy had been captured by Zero. His eyes tensed in determination._

_"I'll cut him off at the Mystic Ruins!"_

_He started jogging off, plotting to not waste anytime._

_"You have to find Amy…"_

_Sonic nodded- there was no way he was going to leave a friend in trouble!_

~.~

_"Sonic…we can't let them get away with this, can we?" Tails asked seriously._

_"No way, Tails! We can't let that monster get any bigger. It could get ugly!"_

_"Without more Emeralds, it can't transform…so, it's up to us to get the Emeralds before Eggman does, huh? So what do ya say, Sonic?"_

_Sonic pounded a fist into his opposite palm. "Oh, we're gonna get those Chaos Emeralds all right! And we're gonna stop Chaos, no matter what!"_

~.~

"Gotta…keep fighting. For Tails. For Knuckles. For Amy. For Big. For Tikal…for everyone…"

_Can't hold on much longer…but I will never let go!_  
_I know it's a one-way track…tell me now how long this'll last!_  
_I'm not gonna think this way…nor will I count on others!_  
_Close my eyes and feel the burn… now I see what I've gotta do!_

_~.~_

Just as all hope was lost, a yellow beam shot up into the sky, nearly blinding everyone. Tails, slightly covering his eyes, gasped and shouted, "LOOK!" as Sonic emerged from the pillar of light.

"Hey Chaos!" Sonic shouted, making himself highly noticeable. Chaos, for once, looked up at the sound of his name. "Gotta open your heart, dude!"

Then, like a bolt of lighting, Sonic tore out of the sky and straight at Chaos. Chaos put up a round dome of a shield for protection but Sonic shattered right through it. He smirked- Chaos roared. The God of Destruction's anger got the best of him, forcing at least a thousand tentacles to spike into the air.

"Grr…HA!"

Sonic threw his hands up, while in the same second curling into a tight golden ball, blocking off the tentacles like they were icicles. Once he was safe, Sonic uncurled, then flew abruptly to the right, avoiding the same beam from Chaos' mouth that nearly did him in the first time.

"You can't stop me!"

Sonic was replied with one of Chaos' larger tentacles aiming to smack him back into the water. Amy gasped again, while the others simply cringed. Tails even had to look away. There was no way he could handle seeing Sonic be swatted back into the water again…

"C'mon, watch." Knuckles stated, tapping Tails on the shoulder and pointing back at the fight. Tails reluctantly glanced up, but broke out into a smile.

Sonic had Chaos' tentacle gripped between his super-powered hands.

"Heh heh…can't pull the same trick off twice, hah?"

Chaos' main source of pain dealing was quickly evaporated by the golden aura emitting off of Sonic. He threw his head back then aimed another gruesome beam at the hedgehog. This time, it seemed even more powerful than before. Anyone and everyone watching cried out, fearing for Sonic.

"Hmph! Here we go…"

The light radiating from Sonic seemed to glow even brighter than before, nearly blinding the spectators. The beam was aimed for Sonic head-on, but he was ready. One fist extended in front of him, Super Sonic flew straight into the beam like it was nothing. The power practically bounced back into Chaos, and if that wasn't enough, Sonic did one last final strike to Chaos' head, not only finishing him off but cleansing him off all the evil and negativity built up inside. Sonic really wasn't sure what exploded- the negative energy or Chaos himself- but something blew up in a rather pretty display of a whitish-purple.

"Yeah, that's right! No one beats up the bad guys like Sonic!"

. . .

Chaos had returned to zero form, and was now standing on one of the broken roads. It was hard to believe he was just that massive beast moments ago! Sonic had also returned to normal form, and everyone had instantly cheered for him and said how much they were glad he wasn't dead…and things like that. Chaos was now staring at something incredible-to him- in the middle of all the destruction he had caused…a small group of Chao. They all gathered around Chaos, babbling in their own little language. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles watched curiously from above.

"Chaos has changed again…" Knuckles stated, only because he could hardly believe it. "This time, for the better."

Tails agreed, "Yeah! Super Sonic must've neutralized it, so it's nice again!"

Sonic shrugged. "All he needed to do was open his heart, as corny as that kinda sounds!"

"These are the Chao you were protecting…" Tikal explained to Chaos softly. "They stayed alive for generations…and now live peacefully with humans. The fighting's over, harmony's restored, and life goes on." Tikal smiled, folded her hands, and looked up at Sonic. "Thank you so much…"

Sonic gave her a smile and a trademark thumbs up. "Eh, no problem! Never thought it'd be too difficult anyway!"

Knuckles snorted and elbowed Sonic in the arm. Sonic responded to that with a sheepish grin. Tails, on the other hand, staring going all excited again.

"Look! Look!"

"You told us to look when Sonic came back out of the water-"

"I know, Knuckles, but look again!"

The trio glanced down to see Tikal hovering above ground, reaching out a hand to Chaos. Chaos stared up at her, in a good way, to accept her offer. Together, they floated up into the sky, the heavens maybe, and vanished into Tikal's ever bright white light. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles were watching in awe, until Sonic caught Eggman flying away in his machine out of the corner of his eye. Everyone else, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Big, were just…thinking.

"All's well that ends well, right?" Tails asked, just trying to brighten up the silence a little. After all- they won. All really was well! Well, except Station Square, but that would be fixed up in no time! Tails turned around to ask Sonic was he thought, but Sonic was gone. "…Sonic?"

Sonic, meanwhile, had leapt off a ruined building, most likely to chase after Eggman, beyond the sun's rays trying to peek out from the clouds- which was always a sign of peace.

. . .

Angel Island…now with the Master Emerald completely restored and Chaos officially out of the picture, it could safely return to the sky again. A loud rumble shook the earth as the landmass arose out of the water and headed back into its rightful place. Knuckles was definitely on board- with the Master Emerald on Angel Island again, someone had to guard it! And now, he was back home, doing what he always did…

_"I'll probably be on this floating island forever…guarding the Master Emerald again. I may not know the whole story behind this…but perhaps…it's better that way…"_

Knuckles smiled as he closed his eyes to rest- without being disturbed this time, of course.

_"I'm at peace once more." _

_

* * *

_

**It is done! Wow...I can't believe it! I also can't believe this story got such great feedback! Thanks guys! Without you, this story probably wouldn't be! ^^ And if you liked this, then check out the "sequel"- Live and Learn! Guess what THAT'S about! ;D It will be up...meh, sometime soon. ^^**


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